


bad time for love (you caught me)

by Crykea



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, AroAce Jon, Canon Asexual Character, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Martin needs a hug and a reality check, Miscommunication, Platonic Cuddling., Platonic Love, Season 3 rewrite, Unrequited Crush, supernatural sickfic sort of, the love in this is all platonic bc im ace and valid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-30
Updated: 2019-05-30
Packaged: 2020-03-29 16:12:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19023403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crykea/pseuds/Crykea
Summary: Season 3 if Martin, Georgie, and Jon were all friends and good things happened sometimes.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea how to summary this and IVE BEEN WRITING IT SINCE LITERALLY FEBRUARY SO ENJOY ALL OF THIS I SUPPOSE!
> 
> I made Martin ADHD for the mood and also bc it's impossible 4 me not to write my characters ADHD
> 
> This really got away from me. It started as me just wanting my two fave characters to interact more but ended up being a whole rewrite. Oops.
> 
> Kudos to jay freudiancascade for some of those words in the kitchen scene

The first time Martin met Georgie Barker he disliked her almost immediately. In all fairness, it wasn’t really anything personal. In fact, Georgie had been exceptionally polite the entire time she’d been at the institute. It was just that as soon as she walked through the door to the assistant’s office, Martin’s gaze had been fixated on the brown vinyl messenger bag slung across her chest-- the same brown vinyl messenger in fact that Jon always brought with him to work. He knew it was the same one, because of the little charm that Martin had made and fixed to the strap at the beginning of his time at the institute. He’d made one each for Jon, Tim, Sasha, and himself and he’d honestly been surprised that Jon and Tim had kept theirs as long as they had.

Georgie had casually whirled into the office about fifteen minutes ago, introducing herself and explaining why she was there to Melanie, who had greeted her in surprise. Apparently, Jon had left his bag at her flat when he’d left for work that morning. Tim had almost immediately gotten a wicked grin on his face and disappeared to “Go grab the boss for the lovely lady”, which left Martin, Melanie, Basira, and Georgie alone. Melanie apparently knew Georgie through their shared love of ghosts, which Martin vaguely remembered from the first time Melanie had come to the Institute. Melanie hopped up to sit on the corner of the wobbly little desk they’d uncovered for Basira. Ignoring the playfully disapproving look from Basira, the women launched into a discussion about Georgie’s latest episode. Apparently, Georgie had recently covered a story that Melanie herself had actually investigated back when she was still with Ghost Hunt UK. Melanie couldn’t believe that Jon and Georgie were still friends. The three women chatted amicably across the aisle from Martin who continued to steadfastly glare at the bag on Georgie’s shoulder. That was until Basira caught him looking and leaned past Georgie to look at him fully with one raised eyebrow.

“Martin, are you alright? You look a bit...off” Basira asked, a note of something in her tone that he couldn’t be bothered to place. Melanie leaned the opposite direction to look at him as well from where she was perched.

Martin physically shook himself, trying to come up with a decent enough lie on the spot.

“Oh, um, yeah. I was just thinking… I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced?” Martin said. Georgie turned to face him fully with her warm brown eyes smiling down at him. With one hand still holding the strap of the bag just above the homemade charm, she took a step towards his desk and held out one hand for him to shake.

“Name’s Georgie Barker. Nice to meet you,” 

“Likewise. I’m Martin. Martin Blackwood.” He stumbled up from his chair to shake her hand, unable to stop himself from realizing how tall she was compared to him.

“Ah! You’re Martin! I’ve heard of you,” She grinned and shook his hand. 

“You…you have?” Martin asked warily. 

“Yes! Jon talks about all of you quite a bit! You’re the one who had to deal with all those worms way back right?”

“Wait, you know about that? Jon just tells people about this stuff?” Melanie butted in, jumping from Basira’s desk to stand in front of Georgie.

“I mean, he was hiding from the police at my house. Figured I should get  _ something _ out of all that.” Georgie said, grumbling a bit in a teasing manner. At that moment, Jon and Tim appeared through the door that led deeper into the archives. Jon looked flustered as he stomped his way over to Georgie, a grinning Tim hot on his trail. 

“Georgina Barker. What  _ have _ I told you about showing up to my places of work unannounced,” Jon growled with no real heat in his voice. 

“Jonathan Sims, you have no place to tell me what to do when you only a while ago were the one to show up at  _ my _ door unannounced and  _ wanted for murder _ ,” Georgie replied, a challenging eyebrow raised. A beat of silence passed as the two stared at each other, only broken when Tim stage whispered,

“She’s got you there, boss,”

Jon sighed and held out his hand for her to hand him the bag. In response, Georgie tutted and opened her arms. The assistants all watched, shocked, as Jon rolled his eyes and slowly, reluctantly, leaned in to give her a hug and a light kiss on her freckled forehead. Martin thought steam might be coming out of his ears. Jon struggled to pull himself from her arms as Georgie laughed, attempting to keep him trapped in the hug, and wrestled the bag from around her shoulder. He seemed only then to register the faces his assistants were making at him.

“Don’t you all have work to do?” He growled, and then, quieter to Georgie, said, “get home safe. Tell The Admiral that I’ll be back tonight to give him some treats.” At that Martin had had enough.

“I’m going to go make tea. Anyone want anything? Good,” he said loudly, exiting the room quickly before anyone had the chance to respond. He spent the better part of half an hour loitering in the kitchen and angrily drinking his own tea until he gathered he’d wasted enough time. As a cautionary measure, He made each of the assistants each a mug of the fancy hot chocolate they kept in the high cupboard (plus one mug of hot cocoa for Melanie since she couldn’t have milk). Handing out the mugs to distract his coworkers, he put on his headphones and threw himself back into work.

* * *

The second time Martin encountered Georgie was a couple of weeks later. She had appeared near the end of the day when the only ones left in the building were Jon, Martin, and supposedly Elias. As soon as she walked through the door, Martin felt his shoulders slump with a sigh as he gestured to the double doors behind him.

“Jon’s in through there. Walk straight for about five minutes and then take a couple right turns. Big wooden doors that look like they’ve been burnt a weird amount to still be standing-- Can’t miss it.” There was a high chance that she could get lost in there, but he didn’t have the energy to deal with a tour at that moment.

He went back to tidying his desk, trying not to think about how Georgie hadn’t moved towards the door. Eventually, he’d run out of things to put away, and she was still standing in front of him, hands in her skirt pockets, politely silent allowing him the busy work. The last task he had before he would be able to head home was to run the files he’d borrowed earlier that day back to Jon, but moving from behind his desk would mean acknowledging that Georgie was  _ still standing in front of it _ . Sighing for what felt like the hundredth time that day, Martin flattened his palm against the little pile of files on his desk and dropped his chin to his chest. Finally, Georgie spoke out.

“I’m sure you guessed it by now, but I was actually hoping to talk to you.” She said, voice clear and unwavering. At the words, Martin could physically feel his anxiety spike against his will but he steeled himself and slowly looked up at her, a small customer-service smile plastered on his face. 

“Ah. In that case, how can I help you?” He definitely didn’t cringe at the way his voice shot up as though he was still working in retail. 

“I can’t help but feel like we somehow got off on the wrong foot last time I was here,” Georgie said, a question present in her eyes but not in her voice.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. You seemed quite upset before I left and I just wanted to apologize. If I said anything that could have offended you or anything I didn’t mean to…” She trailed off, obviously hoping for him to chime in with something other than, 

“Would you like some tea?” This time he did visibly cringe at his voice, no longer high in his customer service voice but suddenly shrill with nerves. The question came out far more abrupt than he was expecting. Slowly, the smile that was plastered on her face with her last visit to the institute crept back across her face and Martin couldn’t help but feel a little relieved.

“Sure,”

The walk to the staff break rooms little kitchenette was filled with Martin nervously rambling about anything and everything he could think of, trying desperately not to leave even a moment of silence. The water seemed to take millennia to boil, and he was running out of things to ramble about. Eventually, as he turned to pick out mugs for the two of them, he forced himself to fall into silence. His earlier worrying was for naught it seemed because as soon as he stopped talking, Georgie picked up the mantle. She spoke a mile a minute about her cat, her podcast, her weekend plans; But where Martin’s rambling sounded panicked even to him, Georgie’s sounded entirely comfortable and composed as if the whole reason she was doing it was that she’d figured out that the silence made him, and wanted to keep him from panicking. The thought alone made him swing immediately back into suspicion. Who was she to come into their archives and think she knows him just because Jon mentioned him before. 

He pulled down a mug for himself and set about trying to find the right one for Georgie. In the end, he settled for one of Jon’s favourites (Jon wouldn’t admit to it, but he always chose the bright red mug whenever he was making tea for himself. Martin secretly thought he liked it because of the Shakespeare quote on the side).

“What do you take in your tea?” Martin asked, feeling slightly guilty for interrupting her tangent about the perfect mic to use on location; her speech was so calming that he had almost forgotten she was talking. 

“Just a bit of milk, thank you!” Georgie said, not seeming bothered by the interruption– Which made sense if she really was close to Jon. 

“So…” Martin started awkwardly.

“So,”

“How long have you known Jon?” He tried for casual and heard himself miss by a mile. Georgie quirked an eyebrow, but answered, unperturbed.

“Oh, we’ve known each other since back in university. Shared a flat off campus for a couple of years when we’d first started dating too.”

“Ah” Martin’s grip tightened on his mug, “That sounds...nice. I’m glad you two are happy.”

Georgie laughed and took a sip of her tea, “Yeah. Jon. Happy.” A moment passed before Martin started giggling quietly. Georgie grinned at him over the rim of her tea and snorted, causing Martin’s giggling to quickly evolve into loud laughter that Georgie soon joined him in. She slammed her tea down onto the table in front of her and bent over her knees, eyes screwed shut. Martin raised an arm to cover his mouth as if trying to keep the laughter from coming out, but every time he tried to stop laughing, he and Georgie would make eye contact and it would start right up again. He must have had a longer day than he thought; he couldn’t actually remember exactly what he had started laughing at or why he found it so funny, but he certainly couldn’t stop. When he finally looked up, wiping at his damp eyes behind his glasses, he spotted Jon standing in the doorframe looking slightly stunned. Out of surprise, Martin jumped, sloshing hot tea all over the back of his hand, making him hiss loudly. 

At the noise, Jon startled forward and knelt down to examine his hand quickly. Martin felt his face flush, and he steadily tried to look anywhere other than Jon, which ended up with him looking directly at Georgie. The woman in question seemed to have recovered her composure spectacularly. She had pulled her feet up onto her chair so that her stocking-clad knees were pressed up against the side of the table. Her tea was balanced precariously on one of her knees and she was looking at him with a knowing smile. He raised an eyebrow at her curiously and she just waggled her own eyebrows back at him. He must have blushed darker because her smile stretched wider across her face for a split second only to be hidden quickly with a gulp of tea as Jon turned to see what Martin was looking at.

“Martin. I was--was looking for you. You still have those files I leant you?” Jon said, eyes somewhere just over Martin’s shoulder, “I have a few more things to do before I can leave for the night, and I’m going to need the files to finish up. And speaking of work... Georgie--”

“Hi, Jon!” She said brightly, waving one hand. Martin watched her tea wiggle precariously on her knee, and he had to physically stop himself from leaping over to place it properly on the table. 

“What are you  _ doing _ here.? And distracting my assistants no less.”

“ _ Oh please,  _ Jon. I’m not here for  _ you.” _ Georgie scoffed.

“Sorry, Jon. She got here when I was packing up. Figured I would make her some tea since she’s still technically a guest here,” Martin jumped in to explain, not entirely sure why he was covering for her.

“I...see that,” Jon said eyeing the mug, a strange look flickering over his face, “Nice mug.”

“Oh sorry for that too. I know it’s your favourite mug I just thought since you two--”

“Who said anything about favourite mugs?” Jon said petulantly right as Georgie blurted, “Us two?”

In lieu of answering, Martin screwed up his face and decided to drain his mug of tea. He stood, not quite realizing how close Jon was still standing to him and ended up chest to chest with him. In his effort to back up quickly, he stumbled over the chair that was still behind him and they ended up even closer as Jon reached out on instinct to steady him. There was a beat of silence where Martin stood frozen with Jon’s hand on his shoulder. Jon didn’t seem too worried about him though as he had already started turning to look in Georgie’s direction. Georgie loudly slurped her tea, eyebrows raised, and Martin scurried out of the room muttering a string of apologies all the way.

He ran all the way back to his desk, arriving out of breath. He buried his face in his hands with a loud groan that would have Tim teasing him. What was he doing!? Jon’s girlfriend was sitting right there! He could be an infatuated mess on his own time. 

His fingers curled around the files as he slowly made his way back to the break room. Through the door when he got back, he could hear Jon and Georgie talking in hushed tones. He really shouldn’t listen in on their conversation, but...

He leaned in.

“Jon, honestly. You have got to stop being such a jerk,” 

“Georgie, we’ve been over this. I’m not being rude, but this is my workplace, and I have a reputation to uphold.”

“I know! You’ve said. But you need to be around people. You said yourself that you’re scared you’re turning into a monster. Human contact makes you feel grounded. You know that!” 

There was a tense silence ending with a sigh from Jon.

“I know I’m a bit of an annoyance. You shouldn’t have to take care of me. I can just take the rest of my things back to mine if I’m--”

“Shut  _ up.” _ the sound of a mug being set harshly down, “I’m not  _ sick of you,  _ and you aren’t an annoyance _. _ I don’t want you getting it in your silly head that I want you out of my life. Again. Need I remind you that we already tried that once and I don’t want another murder to happen again just so you’ll come back. I just think you need to  _ let people care about you, _ ”

“I... I’m trying,” Jon said quietly. Footsteps and a rustling of fabric.

“Is that really your favourite mug?”

“...I like the Othello quote”

Feeling guilty about eavesdropping as long as he had, Martin pushed open the door to the room. Georgie was resting against the table with Jon leaning down to her level in front of her so that she could hug him tightly. Seeing Martin open the door, Jon startled again and tried to jump away from Georgie, as though to keep appearances up, but she just held him tighter. It was almost comical how easily she could detain him and just made Martin think about how thin his boss was. Martin awkwardly shuffled forward, placed the files on the table beside Georgie, and then turned to walk away with a little wave. He was stopped by Georgie letting go of Jon to leap off the table and give Martin a hug of his own.

“Uhm, Georgie?  _ Georgie? _ I really do need to get going” He said. He was usually very willing to give out hugs but the situation left him feeling exceptionally uncomfortable. She let him go and patted him on the shoulder.

“Thank you for the tea, Martin”

“Oh. My pleasure? I guess I’ll be on my way unless you need help with those last few things you mentioned that you had to do, Jon?”

“You archivists...Go home, Martin,” Georgie said.

“I’m really not an archivist. I’m just an assist--”

“You’re free to go, Martin,” Jon cut in, “Thank you for the files” He stood quickly and left the two of them standing in the break room. Georgie gave him a tired look and gestured after Jon before following him. 

Martin wore his headphones all the way back to his house on the bus without actually playing anything.


	2. Chapter 2

The next time Martin heard from Georgie, he was receiving a text from an unknown number without any clue how the person on the other line knew him.

**Unknown Number:** Hey Martin! 

**Unknown Number:** We should hang out I know a cool Hungarian place a couple blocks from the Institute

**Unknown Number:** Are you free anytime?

**Martin Blackwood:** Whos this sorry?

**Unknown Number:** You get three guesses;)

**Martin Blackwood:** ?? Georgie??

**Unknown Number:** Fantastic detective work sir now when are you free

**Martin Blackwood:** I think I’m free friday?

**Martin Blackwood:** How’d you get my number by the way?

**Georgie :):** Fantastic! Ill pick you up! Whens your lunch break?

**Georgie:):** Stole your phone while I was hugging you

**Martin Blackwood:** I didnt even notice you taking my phone

**Martin Blackwood :** 13:00

**Martin Blackwood:** You like hungarian? It’s been a while since I found anyone else who likes it

**Georgie:):** I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship Martin Blackwood

 

True to her word, when Martin exited the institute at just after noon on Friday, there was a small red car waiting for him at the curb. On his way out the door, he passed Elias, who had a strained expression on his face. 

“Did Elias just talk to you?” He asked her upon opening the passenger side door. 

“Yeah,” She shrugged, nonplussed.

“Are you okay? Did he say anything?” Martin fretted, hand on his phone in case he needed to call for help.

“Eh, I’m not scared” 

“I kind of feel like you should be? Jon  _ did _ tell you what he did, right?”

“There’s a lot I should be scared of that I’m not, Martin Blackwood” She leaned down to twist her keys in the ignition, “So you like Hungarian?”

“...Yeah,” He wasn’t really willing to just brush past the subject of Elias, especially if he had threatened Georgie in some way, but Martin could see an attempt to change the subject when one appeared, “My mother and I used to cook Hungarian food together sometimes when I was younger.”   
“I used to try to force Jon to come with me, but after that last time... He refuses to come with me anymore. He got the worst case of food poisoning I think he’s ever had. Swore it off entirely after he’d gotten better. I’ve really resorted to going on dates just to have someone to go out for lunch with.”

“Oh! Is that what you–? I don’t– Uh. This isn’t a date is– I’m gay?” Martin stumbled, hoping he hadn’t lead her on in any way. Stuttering as he was, it took a moment for his brain to catch up to Georgie’s previous statement and by the time he had processed what she had said, Georgie had moved on and was laughing loudly.

“No offence, Martin, but you aren’t really my type.”

“Wait, wait, wait. You go on dates for Hungarian food? With other people? Are you-- Are you cheating on Jon?” Martin asked finally, voice going a bit hushed as though he was telling her a secret. He couldn’t just sit idly by if Georgie was really doing something like that.

“No! God, you two are so alike. Really,” Georgie said, “Let’s get this out of the way: I’m not dating Jon. We dated back in university, but that was years ago. We’re only friends now, I swear. I mean, have you met him? I’m definitely out of his league.” Martin gave a little laugh and settled back into his seat.

“That’s a relief.” He said, “Wait, who am I like?”

“Jon.” She said simply.

The tension that had left his body immediately rushed back. His spine went rigid as he hid his face in his hands.

“Oh, God.”

“Speaking of, jealous much? You glared at me for fifteen minutes straight when I walked in with his bag. I swear I saw steam coming out your ears when he hugged me,”

“I’m that obvious, huh?”

Martin ran his hands down his face, groaning loudly as she laughed.

* * *

The following week was dreary. Georgie had been coming to the institute every once in a while for the last little while. She wasn’t by any means coming in regularly, but enough that Martin wasn’t surprised when he went back to update Jon on his research on one of the most recent cases Melanie had read and found her curled up in the high back chair in the corner of Jon's office. Jon was recording a statement when he walked in, ignoring Georgie who was sitting with her laptop perched on her bent knees and noise cancelling headphones covering her ears. One of her hands raised in a wave when he walked through the door, altering Jon to his presence. As Jon looked up toward him, Martin could see that his eyes held a faint golden glow to them. That was new. He silently filed away the information for later.

Georgie slid her headphones off of her ears and stretched, spine cracking loud enough that Martin grew momentarily concerned. Unfolding her body from the chair, she left her laptop and headphones where she was sitting and walked Martin and herself out of the room so they wouldn't disturb Jon. 

“Are you free this evening?”

“I think so, why?”

“Come back to mine. Let’s have wine and take away and watch shitty movies,” Martin unconsciously glanced over his shoulder at the slightly singed door behind him, feeling guilty as soon as he noticed he'd done it. He didn't know why the thought of being with Jon outside of the Institute walls made him so nervous. Georgie caught his look, “Jon won’t be there. Says he has a meeting or something with Elias tonight,”

Martin felt relief flood through him-- he decided he wouldn't think about why it was  _ relief _ that Jon wouldn't be there and instead grinned up at Georgie.

“It  _ would _ be nice not to have to walk back to my flat in the rain” 

“It’s a deal! Come get me when you’re done!”

Seconds seemed to tick by slower than usual. Martin tried to focus on the work at hand but ended up instead focusing his attention accidentally on Melanie and Basira across the room, who were chatting together, and Tim talking on his phone. Melanie and Basira had gone out for drinks again the night before, and although Martin had been invited, he hadn't had enough energy after recording the statements to even try to put on a brave face for his coworkers. It sounded as though Tim was on the phone talking with one of the police officers he was romancing. The assistants’ office was full and lively, but Martin felt more alone than ever.

He couldn't stop thinking about how nervous the thought of being together with Jon outside the Institute made him feel. He knew it wasn’t Georgie, because even though they'd only been getting together for the past little while, he'd never felt anything but comfortable around her. It was strange. He’d had a crush on Jon for years, but recently the thought of Jon made him nervous. He wasn’t scared of the man, but the idea of romancing him did scare him a bit. 

Ever since he met him, Martin had thought he was handsome in the nerdy sort of way that he liked, and he was smart too. He wasn’t necessarily the kindest, but Martin figured that was okay. There was no harm in a crush if he knew he would never act on it, right? He had within recent months with all of the discoveries being made about the Archives and, that maybe if he was there for long enough, if he was helpful enough, if he was  _ enough, _ Jon would open up to him. Logically, he knew it wasn’t the healthiest to think that he could “fix” Jon, but that didn’t stop him from trying. It wasn’t necessarily a conscious thing; it was just how his love presented itself. Martin tugged lightly at the roots of his hair out of frustration.

Eventually, the day wore on until Martin found himself lost in thought in front of his work having completed nothing since talking to Georgie. He ran his hands tiredly through his hair and decided to call it a night. There was no use in his wasting time at work if he wasn’t going to be doing anything. It was far earlier than he normally left, but he couldn’t really find it in himself to care. Basira was perched in her chair reading some book on alchemical symbols from the upstairs library. Her eyes continued scanning the pages with apparent interest, but she looked extremely tired if the bags under her eyes were anything to go by. In fact, looking around the room, it actually seemed as though  _ all _ of the assistants were exhausted. Tim had his feet kicked up onto his desk while he played some game on his phone in disinterest. Melanie appeared to be the only one actually working, but then again he couldn’t exactly see her computer screen from where he was sitting.

“I think I’m going to call it a night if that’s alright,”

“Wow! Martin Blackwood ditching work early. Finally, grow a spine?”

“Oh, piss off, Tim,” Melanie called in the tone of voice the rest of them had deemed her ‘bored enough to start picking fights’ voice

Tim shrugged and went back to his game. Basira at least smiled up at him from her book and waved. The light coming in from the windows shone across the floor, colouring the office slightly orange, and lengthening Martin’s shadow as he packed up his bag before heading deeper into the Archives to find Georgie. She was no longer sitting in the office with Jon, who looked up at him questioning when he entered.

“Was there something you needed, Martin?”

“Georgie was in here earlier. She and I were going to get together after I was done work?”

Jon did a bad job of hiding his shocked expression.

“She left a bit ago saying she had someone to talk to. I figured she was heading out to find you,”

Martin’s eyebrows rose minutely as he immediately recalled Elias approaching her car all those weeks ago. He immediately turned to flee the office, forgetting to even bother saying goodbye to Jon.

Martin ran up the stairs of the institute only slowing down once he had reached the hallway of Elias’ office. The sound of his panting breaths filled his ears when he finally stopped for a moment to get his bearings. He wouldn’t be able to perform a rescue mission with no oxygen.

Muted through the door come the sounds of light conversation, forced in its normalcy. He crept up to the door, pressing his palms flat against it. He could just barely pick up on the conversation. He didn’t want to run into the office to help Georgie if she wasn’t in danger-- although he doubted she could actually be safe if she was in Elias’ office talking to him one-on-one. He still figured he should check before bursting in.

“–Elias. It seems like you’re used to people doing what you want because they’re scared of you. I’m sure you somehow already know, but that obviously isn’t going to work on me.”

“Interesting. You really weren't affected."  
“Evidently not. You can look in my head, can’t you? Look for yourself,”

“Well, I guess if that is the truth it really can’t be helped,”

“Told you s–”

“Martin? You can come in now if you please,”

Martin jolted. The hair on his arms stood up. Very suddenly, his arms reached out and pushed open the door against his wishes. He walked almost mechanically into the room and took the seat beside Georgie. She gave him a shocked look as though she was under the impression Martin had come in of his own free will. All Martin could do was shrug in panic. The cloying sweetness of burnt citrus that seemed to emanate from Elias was stronger in the room than it had been back in the hallway. Elias' eyes were locked fully on Martin's. With the intensely abnormal brightness of his irises focused on him, Martin found it hard to look away.

“If I can't get through to you, Ms. Barker, I can at least assure you that I have other means to ensure compliance,” the statement was directed at Georgie, but his eyes didn't leave Martin's, "Thank you for joining us, Martin."

There was an unpleasant feeling of freezing warmth that came suddenly with being watched that seemed to drip down his spinal cord. If Martin wasn’t mistaken, Elias almost looked giddy-- Or as giddy as one Elias Bouchard could look granted. Martin’s train of thought was forced away from Elias as he felt burning fingers rub gently at his mind, probing for information. Tears gathered in the corners of his eyes, his face melting into one of anguish as his vision blurred and then focused in on a deprecating string of thoughts, said in a strange meld of voices. If he listened he could hear himself, Jon, his mother, Tim… 

He took a steadying breath that came out shakier than he'd intended.

Why did he keep trying? No one wanted him there. He had nowhere to go. Everyone had somebody except him. It wasn’t as though he was actually any help. It was Tim and Melanie who were better at field work, Basira was better at research than any of them, Jon was the Archivist. He was really just there to wait on everyone--to waste time. 

His vision blurred once more, though he couldn't tell if it was Elias' doing or the tears, and then focused on a childhood memory. Martin saw himself peek out from behind a doorway to look at his Mother in the next room. She had friends over so he wasn't allowed to leave his room, but he was just  _ so _ bored. Besides, maybe her friends needed something. His mom might need her tea refreshed! After all, like his dad said before he left, he was the man of the house now. He had to take care of everything so that when his dad came back he'd be proud of him.

He watched the women talk for a moment before one of his mother's friends turned and caught sight of him. He raised one hand in a shy wave that brought his mother's attention to him. She scowled at him before speaking loud enough for him to hear from the doorframe, “Do you see what I have to put up with? How long has that kid been standing there eavesdropping? It's impossible to get basic manners and common sense through his thick skull. He’s  _ just _ like his fath–”

“--Alright, Alright I get it! Stop!” The sound of Georgie’s angry voice cut through his memory. There were thick tears running down his face as his lungs convulsed, gasping for air shakily as quiet sobs came from his mouth. His hands were shaking against the arms of the chair. Slowly, he became aware of Georgie, who was holding him awkwardly to her side in a strange sort of hug with the other hand flat against the wood of Elias' desk. Elias looked far too pleased with himself as he continued to hold eye contact with Martin. Only then did Martin tear his eyes away o stare at his hands, still wide-eyed. Georgie’s voice came out in a scathing hiss, “You’ve made whatever point you were trying to make. And I’m sorry, but I’m not going to abandon Jon, Melanie, Martin or  _ any _ of the other people working here just because you  _ want me to-- _ Sorry, Martin _. _ You wanting to move along your little plot of world domination or whatever it is you ‘higher ups’ do these days is  _ not _ suddenly going to make me complacent in our scheme. You'll find that I'm not some sort of  _ thing _ to be used, Mr. Bouchard. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m taking your assistant.”

Georgie’s fingernails dug into his shoulder through the thick knit of his sweater, pulling him from his chair and out of the office. It wasn’t until the pair of them had barrelled down both flights of stairs that Georgie slowed to a stop. The two of them were standing in the hallway just inside the Archives, causing the breath that Martin sucked in to taste dusty like old paper. It made him need to sneeze but it was better than the cloying scent of burnt citrus in Elias’ office. A determined expression was painted across her freckled features when she turned back to face Martin. She raised her hands slowly to wipe at the tears still falling down his cheeks. As though examining him for physical injuries, she gently tilted his face around with a light grip on his chin and brushed back the fringe from his forehead. Eventually, she sighed through her nose and leaned down to press a kiss against his forehead.

“Let’s get to my house. I think we both need a break. And a lot of wine.”

Martin nodded. He didn’t quite yet trust himself to be able to speak with his lips still quivering as they were, so he grabbed one of her hands. Feeling drained as he was, he hoped that his coworkers would ignore him so that he could just go sit in Georgie’s care, but true to form, as soon as the pair walked into the office Melanie was shooting them strange looks. Georgie was marching through with the same stony expression she wore earlier, her hand tightly holding Martin’s. He couldn’t help himself from looking when they walked into the room, accidentally making red-rimmed eye contact with Tim.

“Whoa, what happened to you two?” Tim asked, the neutrality in his voice uncharacteristic for the Tim he’d been working with since everything had gone to Hell.

“Just had a talk with Elias” Georgie answered for him, thankfully not going into further detail while continuing her quick pace toward the door.

“Ah. Drink a glass for me in that case, Martin,” Melanie said, sounding as if she understood too well what a ‘talk’ with Elias really entailed these days. Which actually in hindsight would have made sense. That could be at least one explanation for her avoiding all of them for a week a while back.

Finally, they got to Georgie’s little red car. They both slumped in, sitting in silence for a moment before Georgie started the car. 

“Is right now a talking time or no?” Georgie eventually said. Martin felt a little bit confused at the question, having never been asked it before, but slowly shook his head ‘no’, “Do you think later you’ll be open to talking about what just happened, or would you like to just leave it be for now?”

Martin considered for a moment, before nodding.

“That’s for talk later if you’re up to it?” Another nod, “Alright. We’re going to stop by, pick up the food I ordered, and then we’re heading to my place. You’re staying the night.”

The car ride was accompanied by the patter of raindrops on the roof and the speech which was filtering through the speakers. A podcast had started as soon as she had started her car which she had left on it fill the silence. Martin wasn’t really listening not that Georgie minded.

His brain drifted back to the day of Melanie’s last performance review, the same one that kickstarted the week of avoiding the rest of them. Martin had been asked to go out for drinks with Basira and Melanie but cancelled at the last minute. He remembered feeling guilty because Basira had looked at him without surprise when he’d come to cancel as if she knew what he was going to say before the words even left his mouth. 

The next day, though, she has cornered him in the kitchen wondering after Melanie. Apparently, they had decided to meet up at the bar since Melanie had her performance review and would need to stay at the Institute for a little longer than usual, but she never showed or called. Basira hadn’t seen her since the day before. Martin had in fact seen Melanie leaving the institute that evening looking a bit worse for wear, but he’d assumed she was just heading out to meet Basira. They hadn’t seen her for a week and in that time, the knife she kept in her desk drawer went with her.

Had Elias really done the same thing to Melanie? Had he reached inside her head and pulled out memories to scare her into submission? If so, he really didn’t blame her for the knife. 

By the time they pulled up to Georgie’s flat, Martin felt exhausted. He hadn’t really registered their stopping to pick up the food, and probably wouldn’t have noticed at all if not for Georgie giving him the takeaway boxes to hold in his lap.

The pair took the elevator up a few doors before arriving at Georgie’s front door. As soon as the door opened, a ball of orange fluff sped out to zig zag around Georgie’s heels and smell Martin’s pant leg. 

“Martin, may I introduce you to The Admiral,” Georgie announced, gesturing grandly to the big orange cat at her feet. Solely with the presence of the cat, Martin’s heart seemed lighter. He smiled widely, shoving the takeout bags into Georgie’s hands so he could pick The Admiral up. The cat made a grumpy noise when picked up off the ground, but upon being placed into a comfortable position against Martin’s shoulder he began purring loudly. Georgie laughed, pushing to door open wider to allow them both to get into the flat.

“So  _ this _ is the Admiral! Georgie, I didn’t know you had a cat!” Martin exclaimed, still tired but now happy enough that his voice seemed to come back to him.

“And those times Jon mentioned giving ‘The Admiral’ extra treats you just assumed he was, what, talking about an actual human admiral who lived with me?”

“Oh, I don’t know! I thought he was talking about your grandfather or something. I don’t know how I didn’t guess you were a cat person! I usually have a sixth sense about these things.” The Admiral pulled out his little claws and began to gently knead the shoulder of Martin’s sweater. 

Georgie’s apartment looked spacious with a connected main room and kitchen. There was a little hallway leading to what Martin assumed was another series of rooms. There were photos around the house of Georgie and her friends and family, and a few posters tacked up. A couple of books sat on her windowsill that looked dusty enough that he could guess they hadn’t been read in a while. There were a couple of cardboard boxes in the corner labelled with clothing sizes that Martin assumed had to do with her podcast.

Because he was still holding The Admiral, Georgie tasked him with gathering a bunch of pillows and blankets for them. She showed him to the linen closet at the end of the hall where the extra soft blankets were kept, leaving him to check out the apartment while she unpacked the food. The Admiral crawled up to flip around Martin's shoulders like a scarf as his hands got busy holding piles of blankets and pillows, all of which he unceremoniously dumped on the living room couch. The little light that came into the flat through the open windows was dull grey from the cloudy sky outside so he turned on a couple of lamps around the room to brighten it up a bit.

The two of them sat in silence for a while as they ate their food, absently watching a home decorating show on the television in front of them. The Admiral had taken a seat in between them as he took turns swatting at their plants, trying to steal some of their dinner. By the time they had finished, the pair were in stitches over the determination of the cat. Georgie had choked on her food at least once when The Admiral had tried his hand at Martin’s plate only to be tapped on the paw by the end of a fork. Martin had lifted his plate away from him, laughing, but the cat had continued to stretch up, following the plate intently. Eventually, Georgie gave up and allowed him a tiny piece of the croquette on her plate. As soon as he took a tiny bit, he turned around, fur fluffed up, and fled to the other side of the room to glare at them.

“I told you you wouldn’t like it!” Georgie called after him, laughing, “I told you, but you couldn’t leave it alone!”

“It’s all he knows _ ,  _ Georgie!” Martin laughed, pushing his glasses up into his hair so he could properly wipe the tears from his eyes. 

“Did you ever have any pets growing up, Martin?” Georgie asked, a smile on her face.

“No, my mom was always too sick.”

“And you didn’t get any when you left?”

“Didn’t really have the time honestly.”

“Fair enough.”

The credits on screen rolled as they finished their food. Martin took their plates despite Georgie’s insistence that he was the guest. The Admiral had returned to the couch in Martin’s absence, and seeing Martin’s still warm spot amongst the blankets, had promptly lied down where he was previously sitting, and fallen asleep. Georgie smiled and shrugged, obviously not planning to move him any time soon. Instead, she got up from the couch, groaning as her back popped

“Too much time at the computer. It’s all that editing,” Georgie explained in response to Martin's wince, “We mentioned wine earlier. Want some wine? I only have moscato so I hope that’s fine with you,”

“Sure, that would be lovely. Thank you, Georgie.”

“No worries.” she brushed off as she headed into the kitchen.

It was two glasses in for both of them by the time Martin started speaking. Georgie had them seated back on the couch under a massive pile of blankets. The two of them were squished together with Georgie's legs in Martin's lap and his head on her shoulder, trying valiantly not to bump the still sleeping cat beside them. 

“I didn’t know Elias could do that,”

“What? The mind melting thing?”

“Yes. the–Yes, the mind ‘mind melting thing’”

“I didn’t either, but then I guess I don’t work with him. I’ve only really spoken to him a couple of times, but man that guy’s a dick,” Georgie grinned as Martin snorted not gracefully.

“Yeah, you could say that. You were in with him before me, weren’t you? You must be really strong if doing that could turn me into a wreck and you were seemed completely fine. Or were you two actually just talking and he didn’t try the mind melting thing on you?”

“Oh no, he tried. Tried to freak me out with a memory of something that happened to me in university before I met our Jon. He just doesn’t scare me. Not much does anymore,”

“I’m jealous, I wish I wasn’t afraid of Elias.”

“And you can’t quit the workplace, huh?”

“Nope,” Martin said sadly, popping the ‘p’, before taking another sip of wine.

“Martin, this might be a stupid question, but– are you alright?”

“I...don’t think so? I’m  _ fine _ , I’m not necessarily currently in any  _ immediate _ danger by any means, but it’s been hard to be around the archives lately. Everyone’s got their person, even  _ Elias _ has that Peter Lukas guy coming over to the institute every once in a while. Basira has Melanie and Daisy, Tim has his...partners? Down at the police station. Melanie has you and Basira, and even Jon has you. I’m just Martin Blackwood. Alone. No one even noticed anything was wrong for  _ days _ when worms were trapping me in my flat,” Martin grumbled, fingers tightly fisted in the blanket around them, “Sorry. Didn’t mean to dump that all on you. That was unfair.”

Georgie strained to the side to free her arm from where it was pinned between their bodies. She reached over and pulled Martin closer, leaving her arm draped over his shoulders.

“I’m the one who asked, to be fair. Besides, I’m glad you told me. I learned my lesson when Jon was here after that whole Not Sasha, Leitner, Murder-scapade. If I want to know what’s going on I’ve got to make sure others are willing to open up first. There’s a lot I don’t know about what's going on at the Archives right now, but Martin don’t you  _ dare _ think you’re all alone over there.”

Martin closed his eyes and sighed.

“Everyone there cares about you, I just don’t really think you’re allowing yourself to see it. I mean, besides that, if no one else, you have me, right? You and I are friends.” Georgie took a drink from her glasses and knocked Martin on the shoulder playfully as Martin nodded, “Nuh-uh. I want to hear you say it. Come on! Open up! Allow people to care for you!”

“Fine, fine!” Martin laughed in spite of himself, “If no one else we have each other, Georgie Barker,”

“Good,” There was a gentle smile on her face, and a wine blush on her cheeks when she spoke, speech filled with determination brought on by the alcohol, “You don’t necessarily have to be someone’s top priority all the time. Anyways, Basira cares about you. Did you know that she’s the one who's been restocking the tea cupboard with the fancy hot chocolate and the tea you like?”

“That's different. They just like it when I make them t--”

“What did I just say?” Martin pressed his lips together and mimed locking them with a key, “Good. Why is it so hard to believe that people like you? I don't think it'd be possible for them  _ not _ too. You're like sunshine incarnate. Anyways Tim also cares for you in a kind of older brother way. I think he likes teasing you.”

“Which is weird because I'm older than--”

“ _ Martin _ . I swear, you archivists…  _ Anyways _ if you'll let me finish. Melanie is tough, I get that, but if you take the time to understand her she's honestly like an open book. I can understand how you don't feel it, but Melanie is honestly quite gentle with you. You’ve seen how she gets with Jon, right? She hasn’t once threatened to punch you! That’s something!”

“God, no, she hates me.”

“She’s more of a tough love kind of person. She doesn’t coddle anyone, even less so those that she likes.

“She likes Basira more.”

“People are allowed to have more than one friend, Martin.”

“I know but–”

“No ‘buts’ I'm talkin'. Jon’s your friend too, isn’t he?

“Where did you get that idea? Jon doesn’t like me. I’m really  _ really _ good at annoying him though,”

“You can’t read Jon either can you?”

 

“What do you mean ‘read him’?”

“You just established you can’t read Melanie--kind of like that. Like...Tell me a joke that he’s told you recently,”

“I think both of us know that Jon doesn’t make jokes, Georgie,”

“Hmm. See that’s where you’re wrong. Jon’s actually quite funny. That’s what I mean by you not knowing how Jon works. You and him are kind of similar, but in very different ways I think. You just get a bit too stuck in your own head. Also your whole thing about hiding your feelings? Bad. Bad, Martin," she batted him lightly on the head, "Makes it hard for people to understand your intentions,” Martin pressed himself back against Georgie’s arm, taking another long drink of his wine. She patted his chest where her hand was resting, “Not the first time you’re hearing that one, is it?”

“Not quite...the first, no. With my mum, I kind of had a bit of a tendency to, uh, sugarcoat things for myself? 'S probably the ADHD”

“Is that why you got all tense when you thought I was going to invite you over to hang out with both Jon and I?”

“Uhm. I’m–I’m not sure. Probably? Maybe. Yeah… I keep thinking about my-,” He swallowed thickly, his dry throat, “My  _ crush  _ and the Jon in my head is just  _ so _ different than the one that I work with?”

“He doesn’t find you annoying, trust me. Jon tends to just say what he’s thinking not necessarily what he’s feeling so he can come across as sharp sometimes when he isn’t. The tone he uses to say stuff can sound angry, but it isn’t usually. You’ll be able to tell when he’s angry,”

“It’s so hard, though! I can’t help overthinking things! Sometimes people say something totally normal and I just start spiralling. Over nothing. Realistically, I know nothing’s wrong, but that doesn’t stop me,”

“Just be open about how things make you feel and everything will be fine, I promise. If you went into work tomorrow and told Tim you were feeling sad what do you think he would do?”

Martin almost said  _ Laugh _ but stopped to actually consider it, “He’d probably try to get me out for drinks with him?”

“See? Things are better than you think they are!”

They momentarily fell back into silence, both of them drinking the last of the wine in their glasses. Martin leaned forward to grab the bottle, leaving Georgie’s arm on his shoulder as he leaned forward to refill their glasses.

“What about you?” He finally said, quiet enough that it was almost a whisper.

  
“What about me?”

“Yeah. What about you? How are you feeling?”

“I mean… I’m good? Okay, that’s a lie; I’m angry. I’m very angry,”

“Elias?”

  
“Yes, at Elias! Who does he think he is? I know he’s got all these special powers and stuff, but what kind of _asshole_ uses them to terrify his employees into following him? You all should be quitting your jobs! That man is a disease.” She gestured widely with the hand that was holding the glass, nearly spilling wine onto her blankets. It was a testament to how inebriated Martin was that he didn’t even flinch, “I hadn’t met him before I started coming to the institute every once in a while, but _man._ ‘ _Ms. Barker, please stay away from my workers. You’re distracting them from their work and we need them in tip top shape for the upcoming apocalypse’_ Give me a break.”

She stopped her tirade, face twisted angrily and drained her glass. Martin couldn’t help it, he huffed out a quiet laugh. Georgie turned her angry expression on him when she heard his laugh which only made him laugh harder.

“Did– Did Elias really say all that?  _ Tip top shape!! _ ” Martin imitated, feeling good about himself as he watched the anger on Georgie’s face dissolve into a grin.

“I was paraphrasing!” He put his glass on the table and flopped himself fully forward into Georgie’s lap, still laughing far louder than his sober self would in front of company. Soon enough she too began to laugh, throwing herself over Martin folding them into a strange pretzel shape.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," he tipsily patted her cheek when she opened her mouth to say something, "I know I didn't do anything. I'm just sorry you had to get dragged into all this."

"Everything's just weird now. Was weird before, but now other people know its weird too which is…"

"....Weird?" He giggled. 

"Weird. Yeah." She hugged him close as her eyes drifted closed. Martin squeezed his arms out in front of him to drain the last of the bottle into his glass.

"Yeah, the Magnus Institute is weird. Feel free to come by and give your statement anytime!" He said with fake cheer.

"I think I'm good with the one statement actually."

"I definitely feel that. What was it for you? Bugs for me."

She stayed silent for just long enough that Martin assumed she'd fallen asleep on top of him. He set his glass back on the table and caught sight of her eyes. They were squinted in quiet consideration. She took a deep breath after another moment.

"It was the death one." He sucked in a harsh breath.

"Was it a family member?" A beat, "You don't need to answer that, I'm sorry. Curiosity comes with the job, I guess."

"A friend in uni. Had to take a gap year."

"...Did you want to talk about it?"

"I think I'm too drunk for that. Maybe-- Maybe next time."

"Fair enough," The pair lapsed back into silence that eventually led Martin dozing off.

"Night, Martin."

"Night." He mumbled back tiredly even though she was already snoring.


	3. Chapter 3

Georgie and Martin woke up the next morning, tangled in a sweaty heap of bodies and blankets. The sizzling scent of something cooking in the kitchen made the two exchange confused looks. From their vantage point on the couch, they couldn’t tell who was in the house, but Martin immediately thought the worst. Someone had broken in and they were in the room that had the knives. 

The two of them shared a glance, standing up to slowly walk to the kitchen. On the way, Martin picked up the empty wine bottle which he held low at his side. Georgie held out her hand to stop him and counted down from three on her fingers. On zero, the two of them jumped into the kitchen, Martin wine bottle first, to confront whoever was there. Instead of a burglar or a monster as they were expecting, Jon stood at the stove, a spatula in one hand and Georgie's apron tied around his waist. He didn't seem surprised at all, which Martin presumed had to do with the newly forming supernatural foresight he'd been developing. The three of them stood frozen, staring at each other for a full minute, only broken when Jon turned back to the pan in front of him to flip a pancake.

“Jon?!” Martin exclaimed at the same time as Georgie loudly asked, “I thought you said you wouldn't be back last night?”

“Yes, hello, Martin. I wasn't going to be back, but when I got back to mine I realized I left my flat keys back here. I figured it would make more sense to just stay here rather than call another cab at three in the morning. I saw you two on the couch and took the Admiral so you'd be able to stretch out, though."

“Ah, thank you?” Martin said confusion still obvious in his voice.

“You’re welcome. Will you two clear the table so that I can plate these?”

“I...guess? Georgie, where do you keep your plates?”

“Top shelf.”

“Georgie... I can’t reach these.”

Georgie turned to look at him as he strained upward on his toes, showing off just how he couldn't reach the pile of plates. A bubbly laugh burst out of her at the sight-- Even Jon had a slight grin on his face as they watched him continue to struggle upwards.

“If you’re both just going to stand and watch I'll do it myself.” Martin huffed, reaching one of his knees up to climb on the counter.

“Absolutely not” She laughed harder, finally rushing over to pull some plates from the shelf, “I’ll let that pass since it’s still your first time here, but that’s one of the rules.”

“The...The  _ rules _ ?”

“Georgie doesn’t have many rules in her flat but she does have a rule about being on the counter. I thought it only applied to The Admiral, but it seems Georgie has graduated you to cat status.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

“Only the best. Now sit down.” Georgie instructed, placing the plates down at the table. Martin did as he was told, resting his head on one hand and surveying the kitchen. Martin hadn’t obviously brought and pyjamas, and nothing Georgie owned would fit him so Georgie had allowed him to pick himself out some  _ What The Ghost _ merch that fit before they’d opened up the wine. Now, looking between them, he noticed that all three of them were wearing at least one article of clothing with “What The Ghost?!” written on it in a spooky green font.

The spatula in Jon’s hand scraped against the bottom of the pan as he flipped the last of the pancakes onto one of the plates he’d been handed. He’d already placed all of this dishes he’d used in the sink for washing so that the counters remained clean. Hearing him scrape the bottom of her pan, Georgie yelped and started in on a lecture about taking care of people’s things that Jon seemed to be refusing to acknowledge. Martin smiled as he watched the two of them bicker. The golden light from Georgie’s kitchen window made her short curls look extra shiny and lit up Jon’s eyes in a similar way to how they’d started to look when he read statements. This was the most casual version of Jon Martin had ever seen  _ by far  _ and he was trying not to think about it because his blush was already getting hard to manage. 

He was standing in a baggy t-shirt and sweatpants with his hair mussed by sleep; His little half moon glasses were pushed up in his hair as a makeshift headband. As he gestured widely with the spatula in his hand, his brow furrowed with each word of Georgie’s continued lecture. As she reached over to flick off the stove, she plucked the spatula from Jon’s hand and pulled the pancake plate from his other hand. Martin felt his cheeks heat up even further as Jon turned to shoot a ‘can you believe her?’ look in his direction. His flustered expression gave Jon pause and his gaze quickly flitted in between Georgie and Martin. Taking Jon’s silence to mean that she had won, Georgie dramatically set down the plate of pancakes on the table. Leaving Jon standing, Georgie sat down, claiming the seat to Martin’s left. The clink of glasses came from the cupboard as Jon pulled down three mugs and began filling two with coffee. Once he’d reached the third mug, he hesitated.

“I just realized, I don’t know how you take your coffee. Or is it just tea? Do you only like tea? Did you want coffee at all?” Jon stumbled over his words looking mildly embarrassed, coffeepot still poised over the empty mug.

“Oh, coffee would be good. I haven’t had it in a bit but after the wine last night…” Martin said, groaning as he clutched his head. Jon nodded and filled the mug.

“Cream and sugar? Do you take your coffee as sweet as your tea or–”

“Just black is fine,” Martin interjected, feeling weirdly triumphant at the slight shock on Jon’s face. It was true that Martin liked to make his tea sweet, but that was mainly due to personal preference. Coffee served a single purpose in Martin’s mind and it had nothing to do with its taste.

“Are you sure? Georgie likes her coffee strong.”

“Black is fine!” He reiterated.

“Sit down, Jon, or I’m going to start without you,” Georgie said, laughter in her voice.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize there was some life threatening, all consuming evil that would emerge if you were forced to be patient and wait for me to join you for the breakfast I kindly made you.”

“No talk of impending doom, joke or otherwise, before I’ve had my coffee.” Jon passed her the biggest of the three mugs and she took a long swig, “Good boy.”

“That’s another rule,” He stage whispered to Martin as he rolled his eyes and tugged his scarred hand through his knotted hair.

Martin’s eyes followed the movement against his will, and he only tore his intent gaze from Jon’s hand at the sharp kick under the table from Georgie. He sputtered out a quick, “Yeah. Coffee. Breakfast. Thanks.” Before taking a large gulp of his own coffee, and swallowing it thickly, immediately beginning to choke at how hot it still was. Jon’s burnt hand came up to rub a quick circle between his shoulder blades, obviously concerned, which just to make him choke harder.

“Look what you did now.” Jon scolded Georgie, his other hand coming up to take the mug from him to set it on the table. Georgie raised her eyebrows at him.

“ _ I _ didn’t do anything.” Martin glared at her tearfully as he coughed into his elbow.

Jon mumbled something under his breath that Martin didn’t quite catch, and continued. Once he’d caught his breath, he stuttered out a string of embarrassing apologies all of which Georgie steadfastly refused to accept as he “hadn’t done anything wrong”. Jon spent the rest of breakfast glancing between Georgie and Martin.

“What was your meeting with Elias about yesterday?” Martin asked, desperate to take the focus off of him.

“Ah, Ah, Ah!” Georgie tutted, “No work talk till after breakfast.”

“I’m done eating.” Martin pointed out, raising his eyebrows at her in a sort of cheeky dare.

“You’ve got me there. Fine. You may proceed” She said taking on a jokingly regal tone.

“Ah,” Jon pushed the last of his pancake around on his plate for a moment, “Elias wants me to go on a work trip. To find out more about...certain upcoming events.”

“Come on, Jon. You can talk about this stuff here. I already know everything after all.” Georgie said.

“Well, I mean–”

“Wait, what do you mean upcoming events?” Martin cut in.

Jon glared at Georgie who glared immediately back for a different reason.

“Jon, you’re his boss! If anyone should know about this upcoming apocalypse, it should be him.”

“ _ Apocalypse?! _ ”

“Martin deserves an explanation, but not right now.” Jon gritted his teeth in obvious frustration.

“I think right now is as perfectly fine a time as any!” Martin’s voice had gotten higher with annoyance. He was tired of always being left out of everything.

“No; Georgie’s flat, Georgie’s rules. I’ll tell you when we’re at work, but there’s no discussion of creepy institute business at the table.” Jon said, finality in his tone.

“Really?” Martin stared at Georgie who just shrugged back.

“He does still have food still on his plate. Besides, I learned my lesson the time I tried to get Jon to tell me about his day at work and he decided to go deep into detail about some statement about ‘Meat’.” She shuddered. 

“Hey, you asked!” Jon threw up his hands, “I will tell you later at work, though.”

“Actually, I have today off? I think all the institute staff have the day off, actually,” Martin said. Georgie’s glare intensified at Jon.

“You have today off? And you’re still going to work? Absolutely not. Take a break for once.”

“I didn’t actually know today was a day off for Institute Staff, but it certainly isn’t for me. Elias told me that it was imperative that we have another meeting. He said I could come in late, hence why I’m still here, but I don’t have a day off.”

“I swear, that man is going to work you to the bone.”

“Maybe so, but what I’m doing  _ is _ important.”

“Whatever you say, Jon” Georgie sighed, picking up the empty dishes and taking them to the sink to be washed with the others. Jon carried over the rest of the dishes as Martin grabbed a drying cloth. Jon rested his back against the counter beside Martin while Georgie went to grab a stray glass from her bedroom.

“So.” Jon began, looking and sounding painfully awkward as he steadfastly looked away from the man beside him.

“So?”

“What going on?

“I feel like I’m the one who should be asking you that, actually.”

“What? No, this isn’t about...that. I already told you I’ll inform you about everything when we are both working next. I just wanted to say that...I-- support you?”

“You  _ what? _ ” Martin wasn’t sure what exactly he was expecting Jon to say, but that certainly wasn’t it.

“I’m glad you’re happy. Georgie and I have been friends for a very long time– I’m assuming she told you that the two of us have dated previously?”

“Yes, she did. Back in university, right? Why, are you–”

“Please just let me talk, Martin, I’m trying to show support for my best friend and my...coworker?”

“We can be friends, Jon,” Martin said forcing himself to try not to turn bright red once again.

“Friend, then,” Jon settled, somehow making ‘friends’ sound like an uncomfortable thing to be, “I just wanted to talk to you about Georgie. I know you two have gotten close lately and as her best friend I feel like it falls on me to– What do they call it? Give the “ _ shovel talk _ ”?”

“ _ The what?” _ The shrill note of shock in Martin’s voice caught Georgie’s attention from the other room, and he heard her walk back into the kitchen.

“What’s going on now?” She asked, standing behind Jon.

“It doesn’t concern you, Georgie,” Jon said, looking embarrassed but continuing to look at Martin, noticeably just above his eyes, not quite making eye contact. Martin’s face had gone back to being bright red with embarrassment, but for an entirely different reason than before. There was no way this was happening. How did Jon not know he was gay? He’d worked with him for  _ years _ and the whole time he hadn’t necessarily been subtle about the pride pins on his backpack. To be fair he didn’t necessarily talk at work openly about being gay anymore like he used to when it was just Tim, Sasha, and him working together in the assistant’s office. Nowadays there was just too much going on behind the scenes to really care about anyone knowing, but he was fairly certain Basira and Melanie knew anyways.

“Oh my god. He thinks we’re dating,” Martin said, his voice muffled due to him having hidden his hot face in his hands so that he wouldn’t have to look at either of them. This morning was not at all what he expected it to be. Even still, he wasn’t sure he was surprised when Georgie began to laugh.

“You two have been getting together alone for weeks, going for lunch, texting all the time-- Hell you fell asleep together after dinner and wine last night! These sound like things couples do, yes? Am I wrong?”

“Jon, I’m not dating your assistant. There is absolutely no way Martin and I would date,” Georgie said as seriously as she could manage with the goofy grin threatening to overtake her face, “You are not allowed to shovel talk him.”

“You aren’t? Thank the Lord. I didn’t really want to have to get into that whole ‘I know where to buy an axe’ speech. Though Martin, Georgie is still very close to me and even if you aren’t dating, if you  _ do _ hurt her in any way...”

Martin felt like he must be losing his mind with how this morning was going. Georgie batted the back of Jon’s head with hand.

“Are you going to  _ kill me? _ ” Martin asked, his voice coming out an octave higher than he’d intended. To himself, he mumbled, “Jon’s going to buy an axe and kill me. This is it.”

“Martin, don’t be silly I’m not going to kill you.”

“Jon, stop teasing him.” Georgie sniped before leaning over Jon’s shoulder to pat the top of Martin’s head, “Jon’s joking.”

“You’re joking?” Martin’s head shot up in genuine disbelief.

“Of course I’m joking! I thought we’d established that I’m not a murderer.”

“You didn’t  _ sound _ like you were joking.” He grumbled.

“I never do! It’s a bit of a problem,  _ Christ.”  _ Jon ran a hand through his still tangled hair, “And besides, if I wanted to I wouldn’t need to bother  _ buying _ an axe. There’s still one in the tunnels that I lost running away from Not-Sasha a few months ago,”

“Oh God. I’m really going to die.”

“I’m  _ joking _ , Martin”

“Oh!”

“I thought I was obvious that time! Georgie, you could tell I was joking, couldn’t you? I was so obviously joking about the tunnels, right?”

“I don’t know, Martin...I can usually tell when he’s joking, but this time–” Georgie affected a haunted tone. This time it was Jon’s turn to reach back and swat at her. Georgie swatted him right back and Martin couldn't help but mentally compare them to siblings, “Yes! I could tell you were joking. Let a girl have some fun!”

"Maybe stop telling my assistants that I’m going to kill them!”

“Technically you did that first, actually.” Georgie flicked Jon in the forehead with one finger, levelling Martin with a look. He knew she was trying to give him an opportunity to open up, but:

“Jon just threatened me with an axe.”

“Chill, it’s not like he was waving it at your head.”

“Well, maybe I would understand more if you told me when you were joking!” The exclamation bubbled out of Martin without his permission and he clapped his hands over his mouth, looking wide-eyed at Jon.

“Maybe I’d be able to understand what was happening if you  _ told me anything _ .” Jon immediately shot back, crossing his arms and looking at Martin's nose instead of his eyes. It was obviously something that he had been thinking about for a while.

“I’m going to go wash some dishes,” Georgie muttered, giving Martin a supportive nod, before turning back to the sink.

Martin exhaled a long breath, dragging his hands away from his face despite how much he still wanted to hide. He tried to collect his thoughts– Something which was always incredibly hard anyways let alone when under pressure, sitting in a strange house, and trying to talk about his feelings with the man he'd been attracted to for years. The sun had risen enough to shine on Martin’s face turning the insides of his eyelids red. He was stalling.

“I’m sorry. You’re just so hard for me to understand, and trust me, I’ve been trying to figure you out for years now.”

“I can’t tell you how much that doesn’t come across in the majority of our interactions.”

“I don’t  _ actively _ try to hide things from you, you know.”

“You and I both know that isn’t true so I'm going to spare us both and not comment.”

“Lying on my CV has nothing to do with this.”

“It’s not just that, Martin. You’re always getting up and leaving when I do so much as stand too close to you. It’s been like this for  _ years _ and I don’t know what I did to upset you.”

Martin blinked in surprise, feeling himself physically jerk back. What he did to... _ upset _ him? Is that how he was coming across?

“Jon, I’m not  _ upset  _ with you. God, no. I’ve liked you for  _ years _ . Romantically. I’ve had a crush on you. For years. I thought you– Literally everyone at institute knows I’m pretty sure.”

“You’ve– you’ve what?” Jon asked, incredulous. Martin could practically hear Georgie smirk, “Wait. So when you ran away at the institute when I was checking if you’d burnt yourself with your tea…”

“Yeah I was–I was embarrassed.” Martin flopped back onto his chair and pressed the palms of his hands back against his eyes, “God this is the worst.”

“I honestly had no idea.” Jon said skeptically, “I thought I had done something early on that made you dislike me immediately.”

“No, no, nothing like that. You, though-- You  _ have _ disliked me since day one, and I don’t know why! I don’t know what I did to make you so annoyed at me all the time.”

“I’m–I’m not annoyed at you  _ all  _ the time. You are just a bit too...smothering? I thought last year that with how much you were coming in to check on me that you were watching me because you were the one that killed Gertrude– Yes I know you weren’t the one who killed her anymore obviously, but you must be able to understand how I got that.”

“I was bringing you tea and making sure you weren’t overworking yourself…”

“Yes, but– I don’t… Martin, you know I don’t go in for the romantic sort of things, right?”

Martin did not know this.

“Yes of course!” He expressed emphatically. Georgie conspicuously cleared her throat, cementing the slight guilt that he felt at the lie. He didn’t need to be upfront about everything right at this moment, necessarily, right? “Yes, I knew that. I didn’t want to make things weird by telling you, but I guess I made it weird by not telling you anyways.”

Jon sighed and nodded looking slightly relieved.

“Right. I’m sure there’s more that we should probably talk about, but–” He glanced at the clock on Georgie’s stove, “I still have to get ready and be at the archives by ten and as it is I’ll probably be late. I’m glad you both enjoyed the breakfast.”

“Here, give me ten minutes to brush my teeth and stuff and I can drive you. Martin, do you want to record that podcast today?” Georgie said, wiping her wet hands on a towel

“You’re going to be on  _ What the Ghost _ ?” Jon directed the question at Martin and then to Georgie replied, “That would be nice, thank you.”

“I-- I suppose so? I guess I don't have anything to do so I may as well”

“As long as you don’t mention any of the–”

“Yeah, yeah, I won't talk about the actual fear gods on the ghost podcast.”

* * *

  
**Episode 101: Hartwood Hospital [E]**

What The Ghost - February 13th

[THEME MUSIC]

GEORGIE: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to  _ What the Ghost! _ I’m your fearless host, Georgie Barker and today I’m joined by Martin Blackwood, one of London’s resident supernatural experts.

MARTIN: I wouldn’t say I’m an expert by any means.

GEORGIE: Good thing I wasn’t asking you. Tell the listeners a little bit about yourself, Martin.

MARTIN: I’m Martin Blackwood. I’m, uh, I’m an archival assistant at The Magnus Institute. I like Keats?

GEORGIE: The poet?

MARTIN: Er– yeah.

GEORGIE: Do you...Do you write poetry? And follow up question: what do I have to do to read some.

MARTIN: [PANICKED] I–uh–I don’t know how to write.

GEORGIE: [LAUGHING]  _ You don’t know how to write? _

MARTIN: ...Don’t we have a podcast to record?

GEORGIE: Sorry, sorry. Yes, anyways, today we’re joined by the well-educated Martin Blackwood. He will be helping me go through the evidence I received from my long requested trip to the Hartwood Hospital in Surrey. Last week we went over more of the history of the location as we usually do. I don’t usually go on location, but I couldn’t really resist for this one since I was already in the area. I never pass up the opportunity to wander around an abandoned hospital when the opportunity is presented.

MARTIN: Don’t you think hospitals are a bit overdone?

GEORGIE: A bit overdone is the understatement of the year, but that’s really part of the charm. Besides, this one really takes the cake for one of the worst looking hospitals I’ve been to.

MARTIN: Kind of weird that part of your job is just going to creepy hospitals.

GEORGIE: You’re one to talk.

\--

[STATIC, WHISPER, STATIC]

MARTIN: That was so obviously a woman’s voice.

GEORGIE:  _ Absolutely _ not. 

MARTIN: What it was someone’s boot? Come on, there’s no way that could be anything but a voice.

GEORGIE: No one else was with me so no, but it did sound remarkably like the wind.

MARTIN: Wait you went to this place alone?

GEORGIE: You’ve never listened to the podcast? I always go to these places alone. Don’t want the ghosts to get spooked by a huge crew or a ton of equipment-- not that I have those things. Like I said, I rarely even go on location anyways.

MARTIN: Georgie, that’s dangerous! Ghosts and...Beings beside, from the photos you’ve shown me of this place you could have fallen through the floor!

GEORGIE: Oh speaking of I did actually fall through the floor at one point! Cut my leg too, wanna see?

MARTIN:  _ Pardon? _

\--

GEORGIE: –Rumour has it that the place is rotting much faster than it should be. I actually reached out and had a conversation with the last paranormal investigator to go on location here and she said that the whole time it felt like she was being followed. Whenever she turned around though there was never anything there except all of the weird bugs-- said it was the weirdest thing. I was on the lookout when I got there for anything similar and sure enough, that place is absolutely overrun with cockroaches. And worms. God, there were so many worms it was gross. This has nothing to do with the lore, but a girls gotta complain.

MARTIN: ...worms?

GEORGIE: Yah, check this out.

MARTIN: Ugh, that’s disgusting. You weren’t kidding. Is there even any wall left?

GEORGIE: Honestly, I tripped over a broken tile and when I tried to catch myself my hand went through what was left of it. I don’t know how it’s still standing.

MARTIN: So  _ that’s _ why your hand was black in that photo. Please tell me you at washed up immediately after.

GEORGIE: If I didn’t know any better I’d say that mould was moving when I got it on my hand.

MARTIN: Can we go back to the worms for a second?

\--

MARTIN: Would you be able to play that one more?

GEORGIE: Why did you hear another ghost whisper?

MARTIN: Not necessarily? I thought I heard something moving though.

[CLIP PLAYS AGAIN]

GEORGIE: Oh! Yeah, I might have heard it that time.

MARTIN: Maybe it was whoever you were with.

GEORGIE: We’ve been over this. I don’t bring anyone on location with me.

MARTIN: Ah. Right. I forgot.

\--

GEORGIE: Other investigators have reported being followed by a spectral woman with a limp. I don’t remember seeing this woman, but I do have a photo here, the dropbox to all my photos will be in the episode notes with the transcript just like usual. Here check this out.

MARTIN: That’s a nice photo of you?

GEORGIE: Oh, shit sorry, I flipped off of it. There. Zoom in.

MARTIN:  _ Oh.  _ Oh,  _ God _ . What  _ is _ that?

GEORGIE: I don’t want to say that I’ve proved that ghosts are real but…

MARTIN: Georgie seriously what is that?

GEORGIE: Okay in all seriousness I thought I’d found the limping lady, but it turned out to be a very well done bit of graffiti.

MARTIN: Wha– That’s unfair! I’m not even talking about that. I thought you were talking about  _ that _ thing.

GEORGIE: Oh shit!

\--

GEORGIE: So I’m not dying by any means, but I did still go to the doctor when I got back to see if it was anything big. Just in case. Reminded them of that weird thing that happened at the Institute a few years back. Do you remember that?

MARTIN: I...Yes, I remember that.

\--

MARTIN: You--You haven’t seen any worms around since you’ve been there have you?

GEORGIE: I mean, it rains here a lot. Of course, I’m going to see worms.

MARTIN: Any...silvery? Worms?

GEORGIE: No none of your weird silver worms

MARTIN: You’ll let Jon or Melanie, or I know if you ever see any

GEORGIE: For those of you listening at home, I just rolled my eyes at Martin.

 

\---

GEORGIE: And that’s all the time we have for today, folks. Thank you so much for Martin for joining me--

MARTIN: Thank you for having me.

GEORGIE: And thank you to our lovely patrons! Remember to check us out at our Patreon link in the show notes and maybe consider looking at some of our merch on RedBubble. Thanks for listening. We’ll see you all next week! Say goodbye, Admiral

[THE ADMIRAL CHIRPS IN THE BACKGROUND AS MARTIN LAUGHS]


	4. Chapter 4

Jon left a few days later for his work trip without telling anyone at the Institute that he was heading off. Still reeling from his conversation with Tim about his brother, Martin couldn’t help but panic when Jon, a workaholic as he was, didn’t show up for work when he was supposed to. He checked around the Institute to see if he had stayed the night after work as he still sometimes did. Eventually giving up and giving in to his nerves, he slumped down in his desk chair and stared blankly at his hands. The last time Jon went missing, there was a murder. And then he was  _ kidnapped _ .  _ Twice. _ Martin felt at least a little justified in his worry. There wasn’t any use in considering the fact that he’d just taken a sick day, either, knowing Jon.

When he opened his eyes once again, not really sure when he had closed them, they landed on a little yellow post-it note that was sticking out from underneath a pile of papers in the very corner of his desk. In Jon’s sprawling handwriting were the words, “Work trip. Back soon. No need to worry.” Reading them over, a soft puff of breath that was almost laughter left him alongside the tension that had built up over the past few minutes.

Georgie probably already knew. Even though Jon had his new apartment courtesy of The Spiral, he’d said it felt too strange to live in, especially alone. Martin didn’t blame him. He’d only gone through  _ one _ personally terrifying entity related incident. He didn’t know if he’d want to stay somewhere alone after everything Jon had been through either. Besides that, Jon probably felt guilty about the fact that his new flat came at the cost of another person's-- entities?-- life. Therefore, Jon had elected to continue living with Georgie for the most part. She didn’t mind too much as he did give her her space and he made sure to be out of the house when he knew she needed him to be. She told Martin that she’d actually found money hidden between the inconspicuously between her couch cushions before that she’d pretended she didn’t know was compensation from Jon. When Martin texted to ask if she knew he was gone, she informed him that she’d seen him packing the night before, but he didn’t outright tell her, no.

The pair of them sulked over lunch. He and Georgie had gone to the cafe across the street from the Institute that sold fresh sandwiches. Martin couldn’t help but feel guilty as Georgie held the conversation, but he felt even more drained than usual after completing an extra long statement just twenty minutes before meeting up with her. He still found himself jumping at sudden noises, still fixated on the statement of one woman. The bark of a dog outside the door nearly made Martin jumped enough to drop his sandwich. After ten or so minutes, Melanie walked in through the door of the cafe, apparently having decided to take her lunch break as well. She joined them at their table, pulling up a chair. Thankfully, she and Georgie began talking, leaving Martin to stew in his thoughts, until he was abruptly dragged from them by a friendly punch to the shoulder from Melanie.

“--heard you on What The Ghost recently.” His face flushed, making her laugh, “It wasn’t bad. Glad to see there’s a new member to the ghost hunting community.”

“Haven’t I technically been a part of it since working at the institute?”

“Doesn’t count” she dismissed, but Georgie hummed loudly in thought.

“Hold on,  _ does _ it count? You’re technically hunting ghosts and monsters there all the time aren’t you?”

“It’s different. The ghosts can’t hurt you.” Melanie said casually.

“ _ Hang on, didn’t you get shot by a ghost?” _

“ _ It’s different.” _

_ “How is that different, you--” _

Martin couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled out of him. He was still exhausted, but he was glad he at least wasn’t exhausted and alone.

 

* * *

Elias was walking away from Georgie when Martin left the Institute the next day. She was leaning casually against Martin’s car door. He had had to drive his car to work instead of taking the tube since he was heading to his Mother’s after work. He hadn’t really planned on Georgie coming, but they had made plans before he remembered he was already busy, and she insisted on coming anyways to meet his mum. He unlocked the doors, and Georgie climbed into the passenger seat without greeting him. Honestly, he didn’t really blame her.

“I think you should take a few days off. It would do a lot of good for you I think.” She said intently after a long moment, her eyes still glued to the passing scenery outside her window, “You look so tired recently.”

“Honestly, I don’t see why not. What’s Elias going to do? Fire me?” Martin said after considering for a bit.

Georgie smiled over at him, reaching one hand over to pat his shoulder lightly and Martin realized how nice it was to have someone outside of the Institute.

The two of them sat next to each other in silence for some time, the only sound being the radio playing softly. The sky was grey when they got to the Old Folks Home, but it wasn’t raining which was a plus. The wind played with Georgie’s curls as she walked stoically forward with her hands in her jacket pockets. Her hair flew in front of her eyes, obscuring her vision, but she didn’t raise a hand to brush it away. For some reason, Martin’s eyes prickled behind his glasses as though the wind was irritating them. He felt cold and tired and he was glad at least that he wasn’t alone in his visit this time, even though he was hesitant to introduce Georgie to his mother. It was a strange sensation, being happy to be around people while simultaneously wanting nothing more than to be back under his covers.

He wasn’t the  _ most _ excited when his mother had finally gotten the best of him and moved into a home. He was still trying to work through the guilt that came with the move. It felt a bit too much like giving up but he also couldn’t pinpoint who had given up on whom in the situation. Anyways, he made a point to come to visit her and take her out for a day or two every other week. If she’d known he had forgotten today, he wouldn’t have ever heard the last of it, not that she really wanted him to come-- a point she made sure to bring up at every visit.

The building was old and made of dark brick, but the staff inside were very kind. The man at the front desk, a cheerful man named Ryan, recognized Martin immediately and began to update him on his mum. Apparently, she’d been moved to a new room due to the construction happening on the far side of the building and he didn’t want Martin to get lost. Afterwards, he introduced him to Georgie, giving her a firm handshake and a warm smile. 

“And who might you be?” He asked, raising his eyebrows at Martin in a teasing enough manner that Martin immediately knew what he’d assumed about the two of them. He pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Georgie Barker, friend of Martin’s. Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” He turned back to Martin, “Now were you planning to take her anywhere today that we should get her ready for, or do you want to head on up on your own?”

“Ah, we can head up for a little bit, but we might go for a walk with her after. We’ll let you know before we take her anywhere of course.”

Jessica Blackwood was getting on in years, and she didn’t seem particularly happy about the fact. Specifically, she didn’t like the fact that the years she was getting on in still included Martin. Upon arriving in the room, she already had a scowl on her face and an insult on the tip of her tongue, both of which seemed to die when she saw that someone had come with him. Martin had never come to visit her with anyone before. He definitely knew the implications to him bringing Georgie to meet his mother, but he hoped she understood it wasn’t anything like that. Mrs. Blackwood’s attention was immediately on Georgie when she stepped in the room, and Martin could never have been happier to have someone assume the two of them were dating.

“Who’s this you’ve brought in then? Are you planning to introduce her or are you just standing there?” Mrs. Blackwood snapped at her son. Martin, despite trying not to, flinched back minutely.

“Oh--er-- this is Georgie. Georgie Barker.” He coughed. 

He felt sorry for Georgie getting all of his mother’s attention, but he wasn’t going to give up the chance to sit back in his mother’s presence and not be met with disdain. At least it felt like he was doing  _ this  _ right-- even though ‘this’ was willfully leaving out the fact that Georgie and him weren’t dating. Eventually, though, Georgie left. She said she didn’t feel right taking all of the time away from Mrs. Blackwood to talk to her son and went to go get Ryan from the front desk. They were planning on taking his mum out for a walk around the man-made lake outside the facility. As soon as she left, Martin almost physically felt the room drop by a few degrees.

“Were you planning on telling me about your nice lady friend before I died then?”

“I-- I did? I just brought her here? Wait hang on are you sick again? ”

“Mmm…” His mother hummed with her nose upturned, “Did you finally get out of your little phase then? You know, I’m really glad of it. Maybe you’re finally turning a new leaf. Little too late if you ask me, but I guess you don’t want  _ my  _ opinion.” Now that the stranger had left she’d let her accent fall back into its natural Polish, all low with hard Rs. Instead of answering, Martin elected to close his eyes, take a deep breath, and count to ten. His mother continued speaking until the door cracked open once more to show Georgie returning with Ryan to help get his mother dressed for the outdoors.

Martin couldn’t help counting down the minutes on the walk till it was socially acceptable to head back in and drop off his mother. He really did feel guilty about how little he was around her now that she’d moved out, but when she talked to him like that he couldn’t help but feel like he was a child again, being scolded for being too noisy when she was trying to sleep. Two loops around the lake allowed his mother to ask Georgie numerous questions about how she met her son, what she did for work, where she was from. After the third loop, however, she was beginning to look tired. As he expected, she soon turned to him, snapping in Polish a command to “not just stand there” and “get her back inside”. Hearing the tone of voice, his back straightened and he began to turn her wheelchair back around robotically while answering in the affirmative back in Polish. He completely forgot Georgie was there for a split second until she looped an arm around his arm and gave him a worried look. All he could do was shrug in return. Ryan took Mrs. Blackwood from her son. She said a polite goodbye back to Georgie as she was wheeled away, remaining noticeably silent towards her son.

“She seemed...alright.” Georgie broached the subject when they’d pulled their coats tighter against the wind and walked back to the car. Martin only hummed in response. “I didn’t know you knew another language. What was that you spoke back there?”

“Mum’s Polish,” He said shortly, really wanting to drop the subject, “Thank you for coming. Sorry for not talking more, it’s sometimes better if I don’t.”

“It’s fine, I think she liked me.”

“Oh, she did. She thinks you’re my girlfriend.”

“Doesn’t she know you’re gay?”

“Yup,” He grumbled, “Came out nearly 12 years ago now. You’d think she’d have gotten used to it.”

“I’m sorry, Martin.” She said sincerely, and then sensing the want of a subject change, “I guess it's only fair that you’re going to need to meet my family one of these days. If you think  _ I’m _ loud, just wait till you meet them. When Jon met them I had to stop him from taking the next train back to campus.”

With near perfect timing, Georgie’s phone began buzzing in the centre console showing a photo of Jon that looked like it was taken while he was hungover. Georgie picked up and put the phone on speaker, announcing that she had done so.

“Hello, Martin, I trust you got my note?”

“I did, but it would have been nice to hear from you personally” There was a crackle of hesitation from the other end of the line, “Sorry. I’ll just keep driving. Long day.”

“What’s up, Jon? How’s your trip so far?”

“Uh, good-- I’m actually calling to ask if you’d like something from this gift shop. I had to go to a museum today to check on an artefact that was talked about in multiple reports, ad they have little replica vase earrings.”

“Oh my god you know how much a love smaller version of things”

“Indeed” Jon sounded a bit tired over the phone. Martin hoped he was getting sleep. Martin hoped he was taking care of himself. Martin figured he should probably start getting over this crush if he wanted to keep even the illusion of normalcy in this apparent friendship with him.


	5. Chapter 5

Two days later saw Martin queasy and feverish on the cool tile of the bathroom floor. He supposed it was probably a good thing that he was skipping work if he’d started to catch some sort of bug. He vaguely remembered calling Georgie to see if she could come over with some soup, and he really ought to have gotten up to open the door for her, but he honestly couldn’t remember if he had actually called her or if it was part of the delirium that was making his vision swirl. He must have fallen asleep before she got there as he woke up to a tall figure looking down at him from the bathroom doorframe. His head was pounding but he had enough wherewithal to at least attempt to get out of the grasp of the stranger in front of him, only really succeeding in flinching back into the tub, cracking his already pounding head against the side of it. A familiar voice, soothing to his ears, seemed to be mumbling a string of thoughts to him just to fill space.

“Your neighbour just saw me pick your lock.” was the only thing his brain picked up before his thoughts became primarily preoccupied with the coughs that were wracking his body. His eyes watered as he gasped for breath. The person in front of him placed one delightfully cool hand on his forehead and gently gripped the back of his neck. He distantly heard himself whine as he leant into the touch, “Oh, you’re burning up. C’mon lets get you up off the floor. I brought soup.”

All of his windows were closed and shuttered, leaving his flat distinctly nil of sound and light beside the one that the stranger had flicked on in the foyer that he flinched back from. The light seemed ten times brighter than it usually was and he felt it ache behind his eyes. He didn’t even realize he’d reached his hands up till he became suddenly aware of the sharp pulling at the roots of his hair. The same cold hands from earlier pried his hands gently away from his hair, turning off the light and gently coaxing him to his sofa instead. His head hurt. His eyes hurt. His throat hurt. He wanted to sleep. 

“Is this what Jon mentioned that Tim guy had been through in Malaysia? Because I do  _ not _ envy any of you right now. Someone should really take your boss to HR” The person’s apparent attempt at a joke fell flat as Martin gritted his teeth and groaned at how lightheaded he was. With the help of the stranger he slumped back against them, feeling soft and warm as they hugged him from behind., “All right yeah. Lie down. We can have soup after you’ve rested a bit.”

When he woke up, his head didn’t necessarily feel any better than it did previously, but he was able to open his eyes without feeling like screaming, so he counted that as a plus. His head was pillowed on someone’s lap, someone who, as he looked up, was definitely asleep. Georgie was sitting with her head tilted back against the back of the couch at an angle that was certainly going to hurt when she woke up. Her hand was flat on the side of his face as though she had been playing with his hair when she fell asleep. Martin couldn’t help but smile up at her for a moment.

His head swam a little bit as he sat up carefully trying not to wake Georgie. His vision blacked out for a moment when he tried to stand and he slowly lowered himself back down onto the edge of the couch to frantically blink his eyes. There was a bottle of paracetamol on his kitchen counter that he popped open when he got up to fill the kettle. Shrugging to himself, he threw back three pills, pulling a mug from the cupboard. While the water boiled he went back into the main room. There was a distinct indent on his cheek from the lace on Georgie’s dress.

Georgie looked so peaceful that waking her up seemed like it would simply be rude. She deserved a break too, with how much she had been taking care of him and Jon- and maybe even Melanie. She didn’t need to be caught up in all of this, but here she was sitting uncomfortably on his couch. It felt strange to have someone like her who would arrive to help him with soup for his cold at the drop of a hat. Slowly, wincing at the fever aches in his body, he laid her down properly on the couch and covered her with a blanket. For a moment she appeared as though she was going to wake up, but only mumbled something tiredly before rolling over. There would be tea for her if she woke up, but they both needed rest.

He snagged his phone from the counter and pulled up Tim’s number.

**Martin Blackwood:** Hey you got sick when you didnt come to work right?

**Martin Blackwood:** Howd you deal with that

**Tim S:** hello to you too

**Tim S:** is that where uve been the past few days? hookie? martin blackwood?

**Martin Blackwood:** Figured I could use a day or two 

**Tim S:** it stopped when i came back to work so

**Martin Blackwood:** Ah :/

**Tim S:** yeah really

The kettle went off, startling him from his phone. He hoped that it hadn’t woken Georgie up, but as he peaked over the half wall that split up the rooms, he found her still fast asleep. As a last ditch effort, he shot off a message to Jon, not really counting on him responding. He didn’t even know where the man was or if he was even awake, but with his head pounding as it was he figured it was at least worth a shot. Still, it would be nice to get rid of this...whatever it was that was happening to him. Supernatural head cold? Paranormal migraine?

**Martin Blackwood:** I dont know if youre up, but I have a probably institute related problem

**Martin Blackwood:** I havent been to work in the past few days and Ive gotten really sick since then

**Martin Blackwood:** Not really sure how to go about getting all of this to… stop?

About ten minutes passed before his phone vibrated behind him. The paracetamol had started to kick in, somehow making him feel both better and worse.

**Jon:** Have you tried reading a statement?

The message made Martin cover his mouth with his hand to stop himself from barking out a laugh, though if the kettle hadn’t woken Georgie he was sure he would be able to wake her just by laughing.

**Martin Blackwood:** No offense Jon, but I really dont think i see how that would help at all

**Martin Blackwood:** Statements always make me feel terrible anyways Not sure how much good that would do

**Jon:** You asked.

**Jon:** Helps me sometimes. Could be worth a try.

**Martin Blackwood:** Im not even at the institute though how am I meant to get a statement?

**Jon:** I could send you one if you wanted.

**Martin Blackwood:** I should be okay with the tea and paracetamol

**Martin Blackwood:** Thanks though

Before Martin could even lock his phone, it rang with a call from Jon.

“What?” His voice felt like pins and needles in his throat and sounded even worse. It didn’t help that he was trying to stay quiet so as not to wake the still sleeping Georgie in the room beside him, but the air from whispering against his raw throat made him wince. Glancing at the clock, he noticed how late it was for him-- nearly midnight in fact. He brought the soup Georgie brought over to the fridge, placing it in before wandering down the hall to his room. Despite his obviously long nap earlier he still felt absolutely shattered.

“You don’t sound great,” Jon said matter-of-factly on the other line.

“Thanks.”

“Did the meds help?” Jon asked. Martin made a noncommittal noise into the receiver as he crawled under his covers, glad that he hadn’t changed out of his pyjamas earlier, “Thought so. Will you indulge me? You don’t need to do anything.”

Despite how much he was trying to get his feelings to  _ stop _ after knowing Jon wasn’t interested in him  _ like that _ , he still felt butterflies in his stomach for a second at the sentence. Though, that could have been the nausea. He couldn’t really tell at the moment.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Nothing. I just said that. Just listen and I’ll read this to you.”

“Oh, you’re testing the statement thing.” A yawn crawled its way out of Martin’s mouth, making his voice mushy, “Where even are you anyways?”

“I...I can’t really tell you that.”

“I’m not looking to sell your location to the authorities, Jon, I just want to know what time it is for you.”

“Ah. It’s six in the morning.”

“You should sleep too,” Martin said through another yawn as he burrowed himself further in his blankets.

“I have to catch another plane in a bit, anyway. Stop talking.”

“Right, sorry,” Martin said, eyes drifting shut. Jon sighed tinnily through the phone. After a moment, Martin picked up the sound of paper rustling.

“Statement of Gregory Cox regarding a strange ski date in the Alps…”

* * *

When Martin woke up in the morning, his phone was buzzing beside him to notify him that his battery was low. Something was cooking in the kitchen, and it took him a moment to remember that Georgie was at his house. There’s a message from Jon on his phone telling him that he’d fallen asleep part way through the statement. He’d apparently finished it anyway, and wished him well. Strangely enough, he did find that he was feeling a lot better than he had been when he fell asleep the night before.

Georgie was still wearing the pink dress she’d had on the day before, though it was rumpled from sleeping in it. His blanket was in a heap at the end of his couch. A plate of toast and eggs sat on the table next to a cup of tea. 

“Good morning.” He greeted her, voice still scratchy, but feeling less like broken glass than it had the night before. She whirled around to greet him with a grin on her face and a spatula in her hand, a display that he couldn’t help but compare to the first night he’d stayed over at her’s.

“Good morning. How are you feeling? I wasn’t sure if you’d be up to an actual breakfast or if the soup was the better option so I made both.”

There was a smile making its way onto his face when he settled on soup and sat at the table across from her breakfast. His illness may have been mostly or entirely supernatural, but he figured it was better to be safe rather than sorry. Georgie explained over breakfast that she had found one of her neighbours to check on the Admiral since she wouldn’t be home and in turn, Martin explained his phone call with Jon.

“Y’know that does make sense. I do remember Jon mentioning that Tim felt a lot better when he went back to work. It probably isn’t going to fully heal you, just listening to one of the statement things like it would for Jon, but it might be a bit like spooky cough medicine.”

“Does Jon just tell you everything then?” Martin asked, blowing gently on his spoonful of soup.

“Not everything, but I have ways of getting him to open up. He seems to be under the impression at all times that it’s better to keep things in, but I’ve been slowly reminding him he’s wrong. Did he happen to say where he was?”

“No… He said he couldn’t tell me, but did mention it was six in the morning when he called and that he was just about to catch another flight.”


	6. Chapter 6

A couple of weeks later, Martin met Peter Lukas once again. He almost wished anyone else in the Archives ever saw Lukas. He was sure they could come up with some interesting gossip as to why the man was constantly sneaking around to see Elias, but unfortunately he seemed to only ever come with it was just Martin in the front office. 

Since he’d met the older man for the first time, he had found himself fixating on and beating himself up for little things. He’d been recently to visit his mother for the first time since he’d gone with Georgie, Jon hadn’t come back yet, Melanie, Basira, and Tim seemed to be busy doing their own things (though he was getting increasingly worried about Tim), and Georgie was out of town visiting a friend. His mother spent the whole half hour of their short visit berating him for Georgie-related things and continuously asking him to “explain himself”. He left her that day feeling more exhausted than he had in weeks.

His mind somehow felt both filled to the brim with thoughts and worry, and absolutely silent with static. He kind of wanted to go lie down back at his flat and not get up for a while, but the energy it would take to pull himself up from his chair to actually do so kept him sitting behind his desk. His dull eyes trained as they were on his tabletop, he jumped nearly out of his seat when Peter Lukas cleared his throat to get his attention from the doorway. As soon as he dragged his eyes up to meet the man’s the weight that had taken up residence on his shoulders felt like it doubled and he couldn’t help but let out a long, tired sigh. Basira was gone for the day, so he was alone save for the researchers and assistants that always avoided those working closer to the actual Archives. He was sure Rosie of Sonja would still be there, somewhere. 

Deciding to make an early night of it, he showed the man up to Elias’ office once more and grabbed his coat on the way back downstairs. Maybe he’d call in sick the next day. Not as though Elias would do anything about it. He snagged an unread statement from his desk on his way out just in case.

* * *

He was really getting tired of the feeling of eyes at the back of his neck that seemed to be present at all hours of the day. It was worse when he was at the institute, but more noticeable whenever he left. The sense of being watched used to fill him with anxiety, but now it only served to make him more and more irritated with each passing day. Suddenly, he wasn’t seeing a whole lot of issue with Melanie’s plan to kill Elias, which was what truly tipped him off that he was about due for another break. Not that a break from the nightmare that was working at the Magnus Institute was much of a break at all seeing as he still got sick if he didn’t come into work for too long. It was worth it though if it meant he didn’t have to be there day in and day out. Sending off a quick text to Georgie after hours of lying in his bed staring at the ceiling, watching the rays of light outside grow longer, he quickly got ready for the day. His wallet and keys in hand, he nearly sprinted out of his flat to get to his car. 

He’d been noticing that lately, he had been in some type of mood. There didn’t seem to be a  _ root _ cause necessarily, but with the events of the past couple months, hell, with the events of his life in general, he was mostly surprised it took him as long as it had to crack him. Everybody had somebody except him. And even if they technically had no one, they certainly still weren’t alone. Tim, for example, was constantly skipping work to go on adventures with his friends outside of work, or bragging about hookups he’d had. Melanie and Basira had been going out for drinks together for weeks. It really didn’t help either that he’d overheard them talking about inviting him more often and deciding against it in the same breath. That, in particular, didn’t do a lot of help. He figured that by now he’d be used to not being anyone's first choice, but that didn’t stop it from hurting.

Putting it out of his head, for the time being, he pulled up to Georgie’s building to see her leaning against the wall outside with her arms filled with road trip snacks. There was a trip to the ocean with their names on it.

Martin let Georgie control the music as he drove. The passenger window was cranked down, distorting the sounds of the vocals playing through the speakers with rhythmic bursts of wind. As she danced in her seat beside him, and as he yelled out the wrong words to the nostalgic punk music she’d thrown on, there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that somewhere down the road he was going to miss this. 

“I haven’t actually been to see the ocean in years,” Georgie said once her music had shuffled into the more indie territory, “I think the last time was back when I went with Jon to see his grandmother in Bournemouth. Used to go sometimes in university with my friend Alex.”

“Oh? Is Alex the one you were visiting the other day then?”

“Uhm-- No” Her voice seemed slightly strained, “Haven’t seen Alex since uni.”

“Sorry, did you have a falling out?”

“Not quite?” She swallowed, “Death entity remember.”

“Ah, Georgie I-- I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“No, no, it’s fine. It’s been years.”

“We can go somewhere else if it would be easier for you.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m fine.” She sighed in frustration, “It’s just weird. Miss her sometimes. Kind of want to be scared sometimes, but after her a  _ can’t _ and it’s weird and frustrating and--” She cut herself off with a huff. He stayed quiet in case she had more to say, but couldn’t quite help but feel sort of out of his depth. A pop song filtered through the car speakers and Georgie turned the volume up. If she was looking for a distraction--now that he could do.

Georgie’s coat was in the backseat with the rest of their things, so when the AC in the car got too much for her, Martin shucked off his big grey fleece for her to wear. For some reason, the two of them found her in his fleece to be hilarious and Martin had to actually pull over for a moment twenty minutes from the beach because he was laughing so hard. Maybe they really were  _ that _ in need of a break if something this simple could crack them up. 

Thus, when they got out of the car, still giggling slightly, Martin ended up putting on Georgie’s long brown jacket. Somehow they both looks swamped in each other’s clothes. Martin’s fleece was far too baggy on Georgie and Martin was way too short to be wearing Georgie’s long duster. The cold ocean wind whipped his hair around getting it stuck to the joyful tear tracks on his cheeks. Georgie ended up kneeling on the gravel, not seeming to mind rocks digging into her bare knees, her laughter only succeeding in making Martin laugh harder as well. A passing couple gave them a weird look as they walked past watching Georgie wipe tears from her eyes. 

Ignoring the feeling of being watched, he spent the day goofing off on the rocky shore with his friend. His brain was shut off-- the crash of waves working like static in his thoughts-- his phone was in the car, and his shoes were in his hand. He had draped George’s jacket over one arm so that it wouldn’t get dragged through the sand of saltwater as they walked. Despite how chilly the winds were, it felt almost comforting--refreshing-- to walk around with his jeans cuffed and the wind licking at the sleeves of his t-shirt.


	7. Chapter 7

Melanie and Basira had started working on a theory by the time he returned to work a day later. They had realized that it could be possible to distract Elias enough that they could put a plan in motion. They all may have been trapped there against their will, but there was at least something they could potentially do about it. All of them were far past the point of just letting anything happen to them whilst they sat idly by. Eventually, a potential plan was made, but it was agreed that it would be best to wait for Jon to return to be part of it. There was no use in not using all the tools at their disposal-- Not that Martin thought of Jon as a tool to get their plan in motion, but he had to admit it  _ would _ be nice to have help taking down Elias from the man with similar powers to him. 

Jon, over the phone with Martin later that night, explained that he would be back within a few days. Of course, with all of the worry and anxiety running through his veins, he somehow made the next three days feel like three weeks.

Daisy picked him up at the airport and then they were off to Gertrude’s storage unit. Melanie drove like she had nothing to lose, and Martin found himself clutching the door handle the whole drive. From beside him in the driver’s seat, Melanie was near shouting a crash course of their plan to Jon who was sitting quietly in the back. He looked far more tired than he usually did. There was a sort of presence about him as well that he swore he hadn’t felt previously.

* * *

Martin was going to be left at the Institute with Melanie to deal with things there while the rest of the group took action at the wax museum. He was making a valiant effort, in his opinion, of ignoring how it felt like he was doing nothing while the rest of them put themselves in direct danger. That was how the plan was meant to go from the beginning, he had accepted it, and there was no other way to go about things. He talked with Georgie on the phone for three hours the morning before everyone prepared to leave. He tried not to think about the phone call being any sort of goodbye. He had the least dangerous part of the plan. Really, all he had to do was burn a couple of statements and let Elias look inside his brain for a while so that Melanie could get into his office.

He tried not to think about how scared he was when he was probably in the safest position of them all.

He didn’t tell Georgie any part of the plan knowing that Jon wouldn’t either. There was no illusion of protection from the truth in hiding the information, only the knowledge that the fewer people that knew, the better. He hated leaving Georgie out of it, but when they were working against a man who could see inside people’s heads, they really didn't have a choice.

* * *

The night Jon, Basira, Tim, and Daisy spent at the Bed and Breakfast before the Unknowing, Jon phoned Martin. He sounded nervous and tired and like he was trying to hide both of those facts. He could hear Tim shouting something in the background before the sound of a door closing cut him off.

“Tim and Daisy are drinking tonight,”

“Was that the screaming, then,”

“Er--yes.” He’s quiet for a moment, considering, “I just spoke to Georgie. I didn’t tell her about the plan but it was nice to talk to her before-- before everything...happens.

“It seems like we had the same idea,” Martin almost laughed, “I talked to her just this morning. Felt like I couldn’t talk if we were face to face or I’d break and tell her everything. It feels bad hiding things from her.”

“She shouldn’t have known about any of it to begin with,” Jon sighed. Martin could almost see him drag a hand down his face tiredly. The crackle of silence between them was almost awkward-- or maybe that was just Martin thinking that.

“Why are you calling, Jon?” Martin couldn’t help it. Things had changed between them. It was very different to very suddenly going from “maybe Jon liked him back” to “Jon would never like him back”. There was a lot he had needed to work through in the past years or so, and it had landed him in a weird sort of friendship with the man. It was still in the beginning stages of friendship and most of it really happened due to their working together and their mutual friendship with Georgie, but Martin could definitely see the difference even months later in how he used to act around the man to how he did now. It was a lot more comfortable to talk to Jon and be in the same room and see each other outside of work when he wasn’t turning into a blushing wreck whenever Jon opened his mouth. He was still working through his crush, it wasn’t as though he could just will it away, but over time it had started to feel more friendly on its own anyway. It was nice.

“I’m...I’m worried?” Jon eventually said. It was still a work in progress, trying to get Jon to be open about what he was thinking and feeling, but he was certainly making a valiant effort, “Last time I dealt with this particular power, I was being kidnapped. You’d think I’d get used to being kidnapped with how often it happens, truly.”

“Did you get kidnapped  _ after _ that?” Martin picked up on the implication, head already working up a lecture on communicating when things like that happened.

“W- When I was in America. I w-was kidnapped by Julia Montauk and Trevor Herbert.”

“Jon…” Martin could hear the warning in his voice.

“I didn’t know it was important? It wasn’t like I died.”

“But you were in another country, alone, and kidnapped. Do you see something wrong there?”

“That wasn’t even the worst thing that happened in America,” Jon scoffed as if Martin was being ridiculous in his worry. The silence from him seemed to clue Jon in that it was, in fact, not the time to be joking.

“Do you want to talk about it? We didn’t really have time in between you coming home till now to talk.”

“Not-- Not particularly, I think. I met one of the anatomy students, got kidnapped, k- killed Gerry Keay, found out I go into withdrawal if I don't read statements... “ He took a deep breath, “I’d say it was all around a very productive work trip.”

“That...That sounds like a lot actually. Are you sure you’re--”

“I’m fine.” Jon cut him off sharply, “And that’s not why I was phoning anyways. Actually, I’m not entirely sure why I’m calling. Probably the same reason I phoned Georgie, to be fair.”

Martin couldn’t help the rush of warmth that spread across his chest as he heard Jon compare him to Georgie. It felt nice to be appreciated. It felt nice to hear from someone that they considered him trustworthy--considered him a friend. The undercurrent of anxiety brought on by the events of the next morning was insistent enough that the happiness from talking to Jon was incredibly shortlived, however.

“You’re all going to be okay, right? You’re all coming back.” Martin was trying very hard not to sound pleading especially as he heard Jon exhale loudly. 

“We are...We’re are certainly going to--to try.”

“No. You’re going to come back and everything is going to be okay.”

“I don’t really have any say in the matter,” There was a slight smile in Jon’s voice.

“Georgie will be mad if you die”

“I take it she won’t be the only one?”

“Well the Admiral will also miss you I guess,” Martin joked. Jon huffed out a laugh that crackled over the phone.

“Thank you, Martin.”

“Anything, Jon”

* * *

The heat of the lighter in his hands stung as he clutched the burning paper in shaking hands. How had it only been a month since the birth of this plan? He wished his voice was more confident as he read the name of the statement in his hand. The owner of this trauma committed to paper. The memory of someone’s nightmare-- burnt in his grasp. Part of his brain flitted back to the day on the beach with Georgie, so far away somehow. He found himself missing the frigid wind as the fire crackled around him. The first harsh knocks on the door startled him into dropping the statement in his hand. That was fine-- he had been planning to spread the fire anyways. He hoped Jon couldn’t feel the burning in the same way Elias could.

“Sorry, Elias. I can’t hear you. There’s a door in the way.” The white knuckle panic he felt made him sound almost gleeful, but he wasn’t sure that was entirely wrong either. Finally, something was happening. They were finally fighting back. They stood a  _ chance.  _ When Elias left to get the key, Martin grabbed a fistful of statements, lighting the lot of them on fire, shedding the room in a haunting orange glow. He felt almost giddy in a manic sort of way. Elias was about to get the key to the Archives. Elias was about to come back and root through Martin’s head to uncover some memory that would scare him into submission. The majority of his coworkers were of risking their lives in a wax museum filled with murderous mannequins. This was fine. Martin heard himself bark out a harsh laugh that sounded a bit too much like a sob. 

His goodbye to Jon was over the phone rather than in person, and he was really hoping it wasn’t a truly permanent goodbye. Tim had clapped him on the shoulder with a serious look in his eye. Martin had to stop himself from pulling the taller man in for a hug as the expression produced a sinking feeling in his stomach that said it would be the last time he’d see them. Tim was heading off to this wax museum looking far too similar to how he looked when he told Martin about Danny, and Martin was  _ terrified. _ Basira, on the other hand, promised to be back soon with a wave as she walked to Daisy’s van holding the woman’s hand. He hoped it wasn’t the last time he’d see them. He hoped his call the previous morning with Georgie hadn’t actually been his final goodbye to her after all. There was no guarantee, he was rapidly realizing, that Elias wouldn’t just kill him like he’d killed Leitner.

Elias’ petty dig at his feelings for Jon made him roll his eyes. He was aware he wasn’t wanted there in that aspect, but he was absolutely fine with friendship. He, however, did  _ not _ roll his eyes as Elias transmitted his mother’s true feelings of him directly into his skull. Fat tears rolled down his cheeks. He was gripping the lighter Jon had leant him hard enough that he was sure it was on the verge of cutting into his skin. There was a self satisfied smirk on Elias’ face, pleased that he could affect Martin in such a way whilst barely saying a word. Martin had thought he was shaking before, but with how his knees were shaking now, he was honestly surprised he hadn’t collapsed amongst the ashes at his feet.

Melanie found him kneeling on the ground staring at his knees wide eyed not five minutes after Elias had left the room. There were still tear tracks mixed with ash burning his face and he was scared and sad and  _ angry. _

_ “ _ Jesus are you okay?” Melanie asked. He agreed-- the man needed to die, but they had a plan that they needed to stick to. Melanie had everything they needed. He had been distracting enough (he hoped). Their part of the plan was done, and now all they could do was wait for the others to follow through on their front. Holding arms full of cassette tapes, papers, tape recorders, and one small lighter, the two walked dazedly out the front door of the Institute and all the way to Georgie’s house. 

It was almost spooky how the two of them knew exactly where they felt they needed to go, but when Martin had mentioned finding somewhere safe to lie low for a minute, Melanie and him both knew immediately where the best place was. There were bits of burnt paper in Martin’s hair still and Melanie’s hands were tightly gripped around the handle of a knife, but they were fine-- Everything was okay. 

Georgie wasn’t expecting the two of them, of course, and looked beyond shocked to see them. None of them had let her in on the plan, but then it hadn’t really ever been part of the plan for Melanie and Martin to go to her. The alternative, though, was staying in hiding at the Institute with Elias just floors away, not knowing if their friends and coworkers were making it never could. Georgie’s was the safest place the two of them knew.

Georgie had no idea what was going on but gathered it must be serious if the tears still threatening to fall in Martin’s eyes and the knife that was badly hidden in Melanie’s pile of papers meant anything. She pulled them inside immediately and put the kettle on. She’d been through this before. Her lecture on communication could wait.

* * *

Jon was dead? He and Georgie went to the hospital the first day they were cleared to visit. It was weird. Jon was still there apparently. He was physically dead, but his brain was still active enough for Elias to insist on his safe keeping. Martin hadn’t really thought about the possible existence of a version of section 31 for a hospital, but only two nurses had been assigned to Jon for the entirety of his stay in the hospital, as long as he was there. 

Georgie and Martin stood in silence at the foot of the hospital bed for all of five minutes before Martin couldn’t stand it anymore. Tears filled his eyes and he gripped Georgie’s elbow, dragging them out of the hospital back to Georgie’s car. They needed to make a few stops before he was ready, but Georgie didn’t seem to mind as she handed him the keys and folded herself up in the passenger seat. Martin was fairly certain the blank look she was casting out the window was what came with shock and he really didn’t blame her. Before getting out of the car at his first stop he shrugged off his fleece and wrapped it around her shivering shoulders. By the time he was back, he had a bottle of Moscato in one hand and a takeaway bag of Hungarian food in the other. The trip would be long and the food might get cold, but that was honestly not even hardly on his mind. There were worse things in life than cold takeaway-- both he and Georgie could attest. His thoughts were scrambled enough that if he was thinking logically he wouldn’t have let himself drive, but he didn’t really feel like thinking straight at that moment. 

The hour and a half in Georgie’s little car flew past in the silence. Both of them were lost enough in their thoughts that Martin was pretty sure he wasn’t even watching really paying attention to the road anymore. He  _ really _ shouldn’t have been driving, but he needed to get out of there. They both needed to get out of there.

By the time they’d reached the same rocky beach from months ago, the sun was high in the sky, though neither of them made a move to get out of the car. Georgie was the first to break the silence.

“I know it’s stupid, but I wish I could have helped you all. I wish you had told me what was happening. I couldn't have helped. You could have trusted me” Her voice sounded raw. He hadn’t realized she’d been crying till she spoke, but then again he didn’t realize he was crying until he moved to fix his glasses and felt the tears on his cheeks. Mutedly, he handed her her food and pulled the bottle of wine up in between them. They didn’t have cups. Martin took a swig straight from the bottle.

“I’m sorry we didn’t tell you.”

“I don’t need to be protected, Martin.” She sounded as though she were trying to be angry but couldn’t muster the energy for it, “None of your lives are less important than anyone else's. I shouldn’t have to...tell you this, really.”

“I know.” He murmured as she took a swig of her own from the bottle, “We weren’t trying to protect you. I mean that was probably a part of it, I’m not going to lie, but it was mostly that the more people knew, the more chance Elias had of figuring out our plans.”

“Yes, your flawless plans. There was really no way else to do this?” The anger was starting to creep through. Martin tried not to flinch, “People  _ died, _ Martin. Your-- Tim--”

She stopped when he took a shaky breath, failing to hide his flinch at the name.

“Georgie, I’m sorry--I. I can leave if you want?”

“Martin you  _ idiot. _ ” She reached over and pulled him close, a bit awkward with the bottle in between them digging into his ribs. His arms flung out around her waist to clutch at her as if she was his only tie to reality, “The last thing I want is for you to leave me too. None of it was your fault.”

“Oh.” He sniffed, “None of it is your fault either. I was, in some ways, left out of it too; I should have known you were feeling the same thing. I’m sorry that your being left out was partially on me, but--” He tried to keep speaking, but all that came out was a whimper.

For the first time in a long time, he didn’t once feel the telltale itch of eyes boring into him. 

* * *

Six months was a long time to wait. Martin began working for Peter Lukas, something which Georgie was quick to yell at him for. All “There’s no use in being self-sacrificial because you’re sad, Martin Blackwood!” and hands on hips.

He really didn’t know what he was doing anymore.

He skipped a week of work when his mother died, leaving all of his phone calls to go to his voicemail. His head hurt-- not as much as the first time he skipped work, but more a dull throbbing in his temples. He lay in bed for three days before Georgie showed up.

“Your new neighbour saw me pick your lock. Why have you been ignoring me.” There was anger in her voice, that he couldn’t muster the energy to respond to.

“Mum died.”

“Oh. Martin…” She held him close as he cried and didn’t say anything about how he could probably use a shower and a good meal. She accompanied him to the funeral the next day-- a small thing paid for with the compensation money he’d received from Peter Lukas for his ‘workplace traumas’. No one came except for him and Georgie, and he didn’t cry. The rest of the week, he stayed at Georgie’s.

* * *

Jon woke up without any fanfare. Martin was at work so he wasn’t there, but Georgie had been visiting. Immediately, Martin was grabbing his messenger bag and running from the Institute, yelling back at a confused Melanie that he had to leave. 

“Never. Never do that again,” He said, still panting as he stood in the doorway to Jon’s room. The man in question was sitting up on the bed looking as though nothing had happened-- that was, if you ignored the new burn scars that he’d received due to being close to the explosion in the museum, “Don’t you dare--”

“Trust me, I’ve already given him the talk. But honestly feel free to do it again; it might help get it through his head.” Georgie said bitterly, but with love.

“I’m so--” Jon started. Martin marched across the room and cut him off with a hug. He waved his hand around trying to find Georgie before she got the hint and leaned in to hug them both.

“Don’t you  _ dare _ scare us like that again.” Martin whispered, hushed against Jon’s hospital gown, trying to hide the tears that were threatening to fall, “We’ve lost so much. We  _ can’t _ lose you too.”

“We love you, Jon. You need to understand that.” Georgie said, hushed as she pressed a kiss into Martin’s hair and then one to Jon’s forehead. He swallowed thickly.

“Ah-- yes, you too.” A beat passed between them before Georgie snorted ungracefully which made Martin burst out laughing as well. Tensions had been far too high for far too long, but they finally had the time to unwind. Jon grinned down at them as he stayed sitting in the bed. Martin had collapsed in a fit of laughter over his legs.

“Us too? What? What about us two, Jon,” Georgie poked him, “C’ mon say it! You  _ like _ us. He-- Martin, he  _ likes _ us.” He laughed up at her.

“I love you two...too. Hm.” Jon mumbled through the grin he was unsuccessfully trying to hide, “I love you both too, I mean.”

“Someone call the press!” Martin gasped out

“Oh hush, you two”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr @crykea @cryke-art and @alicedaisytonner
> 
> sorry if these chapters end weirdly! this wasnt written multi chaptered but i figured id break it up for easy reading


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